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  • Writer's pictureJan Avellana

On Starting Again


Learning to play with Procreate


Long ago, when I first started teaching, I slowly left graphic design and didn't pursue anything artsy for about a decade. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and so on...this was during my early days of discovering that I suffered from depression, and I was so, so low. I decided to take a ceramics class after school and I'm not exaggerating when I say it saved my life. Being in the studio, elbow deep in mud saved my sanity, my newly found teaching life and my whole-self. Along a meandering road, I found my way into illustration for a time, and lost my way again having headed back into the classroom full time.


It's been such and ebb and flow. I'm grateful to know that it is still always there, waiting beneath the surface to come to life again, and such a comfort to my thirsty soul.


I'm full of hope these days. Hopeful that I can find a way to write and art for the rest of my life, without all of these stops and starts. Hopeful that I can find my way back to a creative community again and hopeful that my best and most meaningful work is still ahead of me.

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