You like making art?    
                                                You think you’re good at art? 
       You love being creative?
            So you want to be an artist?

All of these are good questions to ask yourself, but I’m afraid the stamp of “Artist” with a big “A” will be a long time coming… besides it is NOT, nor will it ever be, your job title - so forget the label and begin your quest to work in or around “art.”

Last winter Gabby, my little 8-year-old granddaughter, sent me an email wanting to know how I became a sculptor and why I became an artist?

This was just plain curiosity on her part and not a school project. She herself loves to dabble in arts & crafts, especially when she visits her grand-maman’s Toucan Studio, where she gets opportunities to try all types of materials to play “art” with. At home, creative projects are encouraged: brushes, paints ,crayons, etc. are available at a moment's notice. Dad provides card stock and scrap paper from his office and scrap paper whenever he is asked and the girls have fun turning packing boxes into something for their dolls or make believe fashion play.... Grand-maman is a big promoter too such as taking a sketch book along when going for a bike ride to stop and draw people or birds or whatever we may encounter along the way.

by Colette Dionne

I’m elaborating on a home setting here because often this is where the artistic kernels begin to form and may, or may not be, encouraged at an early age. You might have been told you are a good artist and your peers may have told you how well you draw, etc. Preschools are wonderful at developing creative projects for pupils even before they can write. Unfortunately grade schools often fail at continuing these projects and art is left for those whose parents can afford to encourage them on the side. By high school, art becomes a subject to learn and those who are told they have talent may develop it from then onwards.

You BECOME an artist, you are not born one. To become one, you have to devote much time and practice – just as you do in sports if you want to make the team. You have to exercise the kernel of talent you may have discovered in yourself. This means playing at making things, colouring, drawing, sketching. So many ways to practice art and as many opportunities to pursue this practice. Looking for these opportunities is a training in itself, one that will propel you forward in your chosen field later in life.

If your interest is on the artistic side or you have a certain passion for visual arts: BEWARE. You will encounter many road blocks. Most parents or adults believe you cannot make a living at “doing art”... or writing, or composing music, or acting drama. This is the bane of all artistic pursuits.

My own parents did not want me to pursue an art career!

After my high school I wanted to be an architect. Still, to this day, it is my utmost quest to view great buildings when I travel the world. But my parents insisted I obtain a basic BA before I would be allowed to pursue my own passion for art. If I did, they would reward me with different extra-curricular art courses. I bargained my way to art training. I did receive a formal academic training, which my parents believed would give me job opportunities, as well as my formal art training on the side, which they paid for just to please me. I had thus found a way to get accreditation in the graphic arts as well as liberal arts. The more you know, the better equipped you are to pursue your dreams. My liberal arts taught me how to research subject matter, how to express myself verbally and literally, how to calculate and figure problems out. Did you know that art is very mathematical? So try to keep up that geometry and calculus course – nothing is lost.

 In my past career, I have touched upon many areas. I never made money at art directly – unless you count the 600 paintings I sold while managing my own art gallery, submitting works in different group shows and exhibits. The bread and butter, that which paid the rent of the gallery was the framing business. That too required a certain aesthetic judgement, a flair for composition and color, a knowledge of decor and so much more coming from that art kernel!

Later on, and because my first passion was ballet, I found myself in an amateur dance group which needed sets for shows and I offered my services to do that and discovered a whole new career which later lead me to go back to theatre school and concentrate on set and costume design, construction and camera angles. Thus I became an art director for commercials and television and later got hired by the CBC.

Then my career took its own twists and turns and evolved with technology where I moved into graphic design and CD ROM interface designing and publishing. I was a pioneer in that field creating my first CD ROM in 1991 and forming a company to publish CD ROMs for the educational market. As such we were the first ones to put video on a CD and I was invited to speak at Macworld in San Francisco, telling of our experience and methods. Later, I retired to open my own restaurant. Again, wanting to promote art, I used it as an art gallery to promote emerging artists.

After 50 years devoted to art, I’ve earned the accreditation and title of “artist.” Now, I’m retired – but only from the marketing of my art – I'm still an artist! The main concept to retain here is this:

No matter what or how you end up in the “art” business, you will ALWAYS be in the “selling” business and marketing of your art will always be 75% or more of that business.

Make sure you develop your selling skills along the way and develop the flexibility to catch the opportunities that may come your way.

Today I’m still trying to answer my granddaughter’s questions for myself.
             How did I become an artist?
                                              Why did I become an artist?
I will work on these answers and share them with you soon!

Click here to enter the So You Want to Be an Artist contest! Make artwork about something you care about and the 12 artworks with the most votes will be displayed at the National Gallery of Canada. You have to be a resident of Canada and 16 to 19 years old. Enter by October 5, 2015.

what is mechanical engineering?
Mechanical Engineering is a very large and very general discipline of Engineering that deals with physics and material sciences for analysis, design, manufacturing and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical Engineering can be dated back hundreds of years in the archives of ancient and medieval societies but emerged as an organized field during the industrial revolution. Back then Mechanical Engineers would mainly enjoy tasks such as repairing machines and keeping engines but now Engineers often deal mostly with management and constructing 3D mockups with Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software. 

A Mechanical Engineer—as opposed to an MET (Mechanical Engineering Technologist)—works in a wide variety of fields in which he or she can occupy a variety of positions. This includes conceptual design, systems engineering, manufacturing or product research and development. Mechanical Engineers can be found in almost every field including pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense, consumer goods and utilities.

A majority of the work an engineer does is planning and development. This is highly theoretical and there is sometimes little room for hands-on practice. Different sub-disciplines of Mechanical Engineers focus on designing and developing different infrastructure. For example someone who specializes in mechatronics and robotics may work at a robotics facility or an automated factory while someone who specializes in welding and joining may work alongside civil engineers building a bridge or other large structures. Mechanical Engineers also do consultation where they are hired by a company to improve their processes or give advice, this can include advice on how to cut energy costs, production costs or pollution.

A Mechanical Engineer's pay ranges from $42,000 to $96,000 with a median of $62,000. This is dependent on many factors, such as experience, location and the employer. Pay continues to rise as a Mechanical Engineer progresses to higher positions (see below).

how do I become a mechanical engineer?
To become a Mechanical Engineer you will need to have the required high school prerequisites and successfully complete a 4-year program at an accredited Canadian university. There are many universities that offer Mechanical Engineering programs and others that start with general Engineering but allow for further specialization into Mechanical Engineering. Most Engineers obtain a Bachelors degree before going to work, but some return for either a MEng (Master of Engineering) or an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Engineers can obtain a P.Eng. (Professional Engineer) licence so that they may pursue more challenging and rewarding work. A P.Eng. designation is very useful and can sometimes be required by law, i.e. if you are responsible for work that is defined as professional engineering according to the professional engineering act than a P.Eng. licence is necessary. Wondering "What type of Engineering is right for you?" Click here to take University of Waterloo's quiz!

I am an Idealist... and if you've ever taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®), and were lucky enough to have the letters N (for iNtuition) and F (for Feeling) in your four-letter type, then you, like me, are a fellow Idealist! We Idealists are a tricky bunch, full of ideas and ambitions that seem to grow and change as we do—but which are sometimes misunderstood by those around us. While it’s great to be full of passion for a multitude of subjects and causes, this desire to try everything can sometimes lead to challenges.

How is an Idealist supposed to decide on one career path, when he or she is constantly wondering if the grass is greener as a writer, or a dental hygienist, or a teacher, or an accountant? This grass-is-greener-syndrome, along with a tendency for Idealists to have incredibly high expectations for our future careers, is a common trait of our type. When the reality of our chosen profession doesn’t live up to the image we had of it in our inexperienced minds, we sometimes get discouraged and start wondering if we might be better pursuing something else.... I can say, without a doubt, that this is the story of my life.

Fortunately, there is hope! While I think it might take some of us longer to figure out what it is we want to do, we can eventually get there. Life is a journey, and every experience we have helps to narrow down our choices and guide us into a job that is just as ideal as we’ve imagined. I’d like to share my career story with you thus far, and hopefully I can provide some helpful advice along the way. This post isn’t just for Idealists either—any type might be interested to read about my experience and insights.

I am a twenty-something-year-old INFX. “X” is for undecided—I score J (judging) on the MBTI, but align well with the P (perceiving) type. I would say I am a typical Idealist (NF). As a high school student, my career ambitions were what others might consider a little… ummmm… unrealistic. I wanted to be either a famous actress, or a weather girl, or some sort of world traveller who immersed herself in other cultures and learned their ways—and somehow got paid for it at the same time. Needless to say I became none of those, but that isn’t so bad. Now, I would never want to be a famous actress, nor a weather girl, and while I haven’t exactly gotten paid to travel, I have been able to do a lot of it through other means.

Taking a gap year post high school to work in Mexico for a few months, I then began my studies at the University of Western Ontario (now just Western University). True to the nature of an Idealist, I switched majors twice in my four years, starting out in International and Comparative Studies, moving to a half college/half university program in Media, Theory and Production, and finally graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Information and Technoculture (MIT).

After graduating from Western, I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off of my shoulders, and like my life was finally about to begin. Although I didn’t enjoy “the Western experience” as much as some alumni, I would say that graduating provided me with a huge sense of accomplishment and a lot of newfound self-confidence. It also provided me with the qualification to teach English abroad! So off I went to South Korea to teach English, and as a one year contract came to an end, and another began, I thanked my past self for sticking out my Bachelor’s degree. The two years that I spent in South Korea were as different as night and day to my four years at Western. If anyone reading this is considering teaching English abroad, I encourage you to get out there and do it! It is one of the best experiences you will ever have! Living in a foreign country is so exciting, and so profoundly different from living in Canada. You will be changed forever from the experience in a way that is so, so good. There are a lot of books and blogs about teaching ESL abroad, so I won’t go into much detail here, but if you would like more information from me, please feel free to contact me by sending a message through this site's contact form.

As great as it was living abroad, I did start to miss Canada. So after two years in Korea, I started looking for what to do next. I kind of randomly decided that I would like to be a Librarian, and after getting accepted into the Master of Library and Information Studies program at McGill, I decided that would be my next move. When starting the Library program I had a lot of people ask me, “Why do you need a master's degree to shelve books?” I agree...

it does seem like a lot of education: four years of undergrad, plus a one- or two-year master’s degree, depending on which school you attend. However, a Master of Library Studies is not intended to teach you to shelve books. The people who hold this degree are trained Information Professionals. You will not see them checking out books for you at your public library, as they are more behind the scenes, making the executive decisions and doing the brain work for whatever organization they work at.

There are a number of career routes one can take with a Master of Library and Information Science degree (see the long list of example job titles below). You can go the academic library route, and work in a university or college library, helping students and professors with research, overseeing collection development, giving seminars to students on how to perform research, and managing the day-to-day operations of the library. I found that most of the students in my program were interested in getting a job in an academic setting after graduation.

Another option is to work in a Special Library. Special Libraries are typically libraries owned by private companies or organizations, that house resources on topics that support the work of the organization. For instance, many law firms, government bodies and huge corporations have their own libraries, and hire professional Librarians to work in them, doing research and organizing company resources. Companies also hire professionals in Library and Information Science to work for their Competitive Intelligence departments as well. Competitive Intelligence basically involves managing, organizing, and finding ways to use company information to generate profits for the organization. A person with a Master of Library and Information Science degree can expect a high position, potentially running his or her department and managing employees as well.

Yet another place some graduates work is in the public library. Individuals with master’s degrees are the people who run the library. They might be in charge of the library’s finances, human resources, and making executive decisions for the library, like implementing new technologies and other big changes. They are also the ones who decide upon the library programming. This could involve bringing guest speakers to the library, children’s programming and other events for the general public, like seminars or adult education classes.

Some final places where graduates typically find work are in museums, archives and Records Management. Museums hire Information Professionals for research and management positions, as well as to be in charge of the preservation of old artifacts and documents. Records Management is a form of archiving that most companies and big organizations use. This department is responsible for managing the lifecycle of a company’s records. They must store and organize every record that the company generates, and determine when a record is no longer needed by the company.

There are eight universities in Canada that offer the Master of Library and Information Studies (LIS) program (sometimes just called Master of Information Studies). They are:

• University of British Columbia
  

• University of Alberta
  

• Western University
  

• University of Toronto
  

• University of Ottawa
  

• McGill University
  

• University of Montreal (in French)
  

• Dalhousie University

If you are interested in learning more about a Master’s degree in Library or Information Science, I encourage you to take a look at the above links. I am not finished my degree yet, as I’ve had a bit of a change of heart after a summer internship in the field. The main thing that changed my mind about continuing the degree, which I did not realize before starting it, is that it will lead to a job that works more with information and data rather than people. This is perfectly suited for some, but I think my INFX personality craves human interaction and connection in my career, and so I am still searching!

If you have any more questions about graduate school or the library industry, please feel free to contact me for more information. And good luck on your professional journey!

why choose a career in nursing?
Now is the perfect time to become a registered nurse (RN) in Canada. There are many career opportunities in hospitals, homes and even in the classroom. Every Canadian at some point in their life will require the services of a nurse. Currently Canada is facing a shortage of registered nurses, as many RNs are retiring and others will soon retire. Canada needs dedicated people to choose nursing as a career. Nursing offers men and women alike a wide range of opportunities for career challenges, travel, professional development, competitive wages (click here) and the personal satisfaction of working in a caring profession that helps people to get well or stay healthy.

what to expect as a registered nurse
Becoming a nurse opens you up to a lot of possibilities as nurses in Canada work in a variety of positions. RNs support people to attain, maintain and regain health across their lifespan. Nurses practice in five major areas of responsibility: education, administration, research, policy and direct care. Education and administration are fairly self-explanatory, nurses who work in education can either work at high-schools in specialized programs for nursing or at nursing colleges; nurses working in administration can work at long-term care homes, hospitals and other locations where nursing services are available; and nurses in policy advocate, critique and advise on health-care issues; and direct care nurses work directly with their patients. 

There are other options to becoming a nurse if you are interested in diirect care, from home care aide to nursing assistant to direct support professional, personal care attendant, and more. Although they work in different settings, they all provide hands-on care to people who need long-term supports and services. Examples of direct care work range from working as a nurse's aide in a hospice providing comfort to patients and families to providing support for people with severe illnesses in their homes and helping them with the activities of daily living. 

how to become a registered nurse
To work as a nurse in Canada you require a bachelor's degree in nursing (BN or BScN) or you must be in the process of obtaining this educational requirement. Many Canadian universities, and colleges in combination with universities, offer degrees in nursing (click here for a listing). A typical bachelor's degree will take approximately 4 years and you are eligible for some clinical work while in the process of obtaining your degree. Along with a bachelor's degree you must write the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination as part of the registration or licensure process. At present, this exam can only be written in Canada on the
recommendation of a provincial or a territorial nurses association.

Answer these questions if you are considering a career in technical repair: Do you takes things apart to figure out how they work? Do you like to work with machines as much or even more than people? Are you a hands-on learner? If so, then good news, a career as a 310T Truck and Coach Technician might be right for you!

Truck & Coach Technicians (trade code 310T) are responsible to service, repair, overhaul, diagnose and inspect motor coaches, heavy trucks and truck-trailers. This job entails detecting and diagnosing problems in various parts of a mechanical system including the brakes, ignition and suspension systems.

how do you become a 310T?
There are a few different ways to go about becoming a 310T, but the simplest is through OYAP - the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. OYAP provides opportunities to students to participate in an apprenticeship occupation while enrolled in a secondary school program leading to an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The requirements to become a 310T consist of completing 6720 hours of apprenticeship, 6000 hours on-job training, as well as three 8-week blocks of training in-school. After this you are required to successfully pass a written examination for your certificate of qualification .

The skills of this trade include repairing, testing and maintaining trucks, coaches and other heavy motorized vehicles. The job involves working mostly independently on repairs while working on site with a team of similarly trained professionals . A typical day consists of working on one or several repairs throughout the day that come in as work orders. Each repair would be a different and unique experience where the tools and knowledge would differ case-by-case.

As an alternative to OYAP, a trade courses and certificate of apprenticeship can be acquired from a number of Ontario colleges including Mohawk, Conestoga and Fanshawe, among others. A career as a 310T offers a high salary, plenty of potential for career advancement and a chance for on-the-job learning.

why become a 310T?
Apart from being one of the most in-demand trade jobs in Canada, choosing a career as a Truck and Coach Technician can be very rewarding. On average, a certified 310T can expect to make $26 an hour, but along with this there are other incentives on site including reaching a sales goal for bonuses and overtime pay.

The skills you learn to become a 310T are also very applicable in other similar fields including Heavy Equipment, Aircraft Maintenance and Industrial Maintenance.

what can you expect as a 310T?
Working as a Truck and Coach Technician requires finely tuned critical thinking skills. You are required to make assessments and decisions in a fairly short amount of time. Each repair you do may use different diagnostics tools and it is up to you to find out where the problem is, what the problem is and how to fix it. Typically you'll be given a few hours for a work order but in some cases it can be bumped up to over a day. If you like a challenge and this all sounds like a good fit for you, maybe a 310T apprenticeship is the way to go!

Video games are modern phenomena that have existed and persisted over the last 40 years. In a typical game development firm you have a lead designer who is in contact with the publishers and leads the team through the journey of designing and developing a game. The lead designer manages the game designers, the art lead, tech lead and audio designers. For larger studios there may be other positions such as writers and voice-actors.

what does a game designer do? 
A video game starts as an idea and moves on to become a concept. After this a proposal is written up and drafted by a team of designers who deal with the most pressing issues (age of the target audience, deadlines, budgets, number of staff, requirements, etc). The designers come up with ideas and solutions to many problems they may encounter in the process of game development. These solutions are then enacted by the technical members of the team like the audio designers, artists and programmers. Therefore, in a sense, the game designers can be seen as managers or even directors.  

Game designers have many responsibilities beyond designing the characters, plot, maps and other aspects of the game; in fact, concepts and ideas are a very small portion of the work a game designer does. These other responsibilities include meeting deadlines, play-testing the game for bugs and difficulty and communicating with different leads. If you’re interested in pursuing a career in game design, you’ll need some very specific skills including knowledge of programming languages, coding, problem solving and critical thinking, sketching and drawing skills, communication skills and knowledge of video and audio equipment.

other positions in a studio
audio designer - These guys work with the sound engineering in video games, as well as how to appropriately add sound to the game. They are often in charge of developing sound effects and linking them to actions that the programmers write out.

programmer - Programmers are the backbone of many game studios; they provide the framework the game is built on, the code that runs the game and the interactions between all the different objects, the animations of models and sprites, the control interface that the user would need to interact with the game world and much more.

artists - The artists are in charge of designing sprites, textures for models and terrain, concept art, cover art, environments and much more. In general they design any graphics-related content that would be required in the game development process.

how to become a video game designer
The video game industry is extremely fast moving and competitive. With the recent advent of indie gaming there are more possibilities available but they are often low paying with extremely high workloads. This is not to say that the majority of the industry doesn’t suffer from both of these problems. To become a video game designer you could choose to get a college degree in video game design, computer science or a similar related field. Most designers start off as interns in large companies as QA testers and work their way up. Many designers also start off as artists, web designers or programmers who want more say in what happens in the game. 

education - There are many colleges and universities that offer programs specifically in game design; in Southern Ontario this includes Sheridan, Algonquin, George Brown, Seneca and Carlton, Brock and Laurier. Beyond this, you can also find diplomas degrees in information technology, animation and digital design, which are all wider in scope allowing you to have more prospects in your future.

If you plan on becoming a video game designer, then you should develop - and keep developing - a portfolio to show companies. This portfolio should include any design work or games that you have created. Examples include mods to existing games using development tools such as the creation kit in Skyrim. You can also use tools like Unity 3D or Gamemaker to develop and publish games independently. Gamedev.net is a popular resource that offers free tutorials, paid work and hobbyist projects for future and current game developers and designers. To really shoehorn your way into the industry you will need to take initiative and complete your own projects.

An alternative to getting a degree or diploma in game development is to get a bachelor's degree in programming and then find work in the game industry, or you can also get a degree in art/design and also try to find a position in a studio. These are the more common ways to get into game development since programs that are purely meant for game design are relatively new.

work environment
There are many misconceptions of the gaming industry; many people wish to pursue a career in the gaming industry due to stereotypes of relaxed atmospheres, a lack of hierarchies and casual or ’fun’ work (doing what you enjoy) - but this is fairly distant from the truth. Large companies such as EA, Ubisoft, Valve and Paradox have very different and unique work environments which can range from what was described above to working 70 hours a week with very heavy workloads.

According to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the average game designer is 31 years old with a salary of $51,375—this is an increase of of $1,950 from the year before. The salary for a game designer can vary heavily within the industry. For example, at Electronic Arts a designer can expect a salary of $71,500, while those employed at Gameloft can expect $48,667.

While the industry is very competitive, it also has room for advancement. In choosing a career in game design, you will be required to work in audio/fx design, graphics/art or programming for a long time before becoming a full-fledged game designer, and you will still have to work with these areas afterwards - so make sure that you have a large and vested interest in becoming a game designer!