Blog Archive

Creativity is part of everybody’s life all the time - 2010-07-22

AAYC Board member Julie Stern was born in South Korea, adopted by an American couple and grew up in Puyallup. She says she got into art at an early age.

“My parents got me one of those mini-tables and markers. I loved making pictures. As I got older, I didn't think I was that great, but my parents always encouraged me.”

"I took art lessons, but then I have always been involved in the arts. What I love about it is that the arts build creativity and expand your ways of thinking. For example, I might notice a building, but I’m seeing so much more than what’s there.

"I’ve enjoyed painting and photography, not as a profession but for myself. I loved drawing with pastels – if I didn’t like something about a picture, I could just smudge it a bit and re-draw it. I’d like to get back to drawing with pastels.

"Professionally, I'm a perfectionist and that can be a problem, but the arts remind me that perfection isn’t a goal. As an artist, you take ownership of your work and try to make it better. My friends are always nudging me to get back to art for myself. That’s one of the best things about creative activities: I do it because I want to, not because I have to.

"I do a lot of media writing, which doesn’t allow for a lot of creative writing, but I look for ways to ‘spice’ it up a little, make it more interesting to read. It’s an interesting time to work in the media because there’s more online content – FaceBook, Twitter, webpages, blogs. My job includes updating this stuff and I try to think of ways to add visual interest to the pages.

"I was doing commercial TV production for four years. We didn’t always have a set plan for a spot but we’d generate some ideas and have to figure out how to make them work. Now I’m writing for the news at a local TV station. In a way, we are painting: we want people to see what we are talking about.

"As an Allied Arts board member, I’m involved in raising community awareness of the value of the arts and making it available to people who may not be able to afford it. I like promoting all of our activities and encouraging more people to participate.

"One of the things I really love to see is that the wide array of people who are take part in Allied Arts events: rich and poor, every age, all walks of life. What makes Allied Arts so exciting is the accessibility to the arts. I like to walk in these doors and see a painting or an exhibit or a show and they’re for all kinds of people. I am happy to be part of Allied Arts and I encourage people to continue supporting the arts!

"Creativity is part of everybody’s life all the time. We don’t clock out from work and then start being creative."