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<\/p>\nWhen I was 8 I wanted to be an artist. \u00a0At 5, my dream had been to be a clown, but I had dropped that idea by 8 maybe realising that it was a bit silly and crazy to want to be a clown. \u00a0I had packed away the clown suit and the clowns on my wall. \u00a0Maybe an adult had told me that being a clown was not sensible and didn’t bring in enough money. \u00a0But an artist was still a possible job at 8. \u00a0An artist to me was a painter – making artworks on paper.<\/p>\n
As I grew up I realised I had a talent for typing. \u00a0I was a speed typist with the word speed of about 65 words per minute. \u00a0At age 15, I decided I wanted to be a secretary even though I was doing so well in the sciences and in English. \u00a0I told my typing teacher that I wanted to be a secretary. \u00a0I had dropped the idea of being an artist long ago. \u00a0Maybe adults had told me that being an artist was not sensible and didn’t bring in enough money. \u00a0So being a secretary was what I could do. \u00a0However that typing teacher said to me, “No Belinda, you should be going to University and doing science.” \u00a0I was good at that – in fact I was good at academia in general. \u00a0That teacher made me think differently and I decided to go and do a degree in Biology when I left school. \u00a0You see I was 2nd in Biology for my year and loved it a lot. \u00a0Sometimes I wonder why I listened to that teacher.<\/p>\n
Did that degree get me employment in science? \u00a0Not really, as there were virtually no jobs in science in New Zealand at the time – but it led me to work in the University. \u00a0I had done many jobs – none of them permanent or full-time apart from one office job in a car dealership. \u00a0When I finally got my job at the University and saw “Secretary” on my job description, I laughed my head off. \u00a0I had achieved what I wanted to do when I was 15 years old. \u00a0I had that title for a year until they changed our titles to Administrator. \u00a0I left the Uni for a while to have three children but found myself back there 8 years later working casually. \u00a0While working there I got a pro camera, a gift from my husband. \u00a0It was a Fujifilm X-T1 and it changed my life. \u00a0I could suddenly take the photos I had always dreamed about and they were extremely artistic. \u00a0I had done photography on a very small basis for many years, but this was the first time my photos matched what was in my head and often surpassed my ideas.<\/p>\n
I had tried many other art forms over the years including painting, embroidery, sewing, you name it, but photography is the one thing that has stuck with me. \u00a0I can finally say I have achieved the goal my 8 year old self wanted to achieve, being an artist! \u00a0I had probably always been an artist at heart but not one earning money. \u00a0Now I earn money from it. \u00a0I’m now 42 and it has been a very odd journey to get to where I am. \u00a0Not a straight line by any means – but a curving and bumpy road.<\/p>\n
What would I tell my children? \u00a0Try to be that Lego designer that you always wanted to be. \u00a0Try to be that cafe-owning fashion designer. \u00a0Be what you want – just don’t expect it to happen overnight and expect to have lots of jobs in-between to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
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When I was 8 I wanted to be an artist. \u00a0At 5, my dream had been to be a clown, but I had dropped that idea by 8 maybe realising that it was a bit silly and crazy to want to be a clown. \u00a0I had packed away the clown suit and the clowns on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fujifilm-xt-1"],"yoast_head":"\n