I Blame the Butterflies

That's what I would look like if you were to take a trip in a time machine back circa 1991.
Butterflies have pretty wings and fly around with whimsy. I loved them; I believe my name at that age was something like "Tahnee Princess Butterfly", though I don't have any means of double-checking this, as I am in lack of a time machine. (If you should happen to have one, I would gladly pay you in drawings for a ride).

Some years after that photo was taken, I was aspiring to be a concert violinist and pianist, practicing several hours daily. All the while, I still enjoyed doodling and making flip-books, along with hours of watching Rocko's Modern Life and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Ah, Nintendo was a huge influence as well.

Along came high school with time-hungry homework assignments. While I was not able to focus on practicing music anymore, I was able to take art classes, and decided I wanted to become a professional artist. I went to Palomar College as an Illustration major, distraught that the school lacked a 2D animation program. I learned the ABC's and grammar of traditional art, then decided to take it a step further. I visited CalArts once upon a day, and fell in love. What if I had the guts to get into their 2D Character Animation program?

Well, that became an obsession, and then I found myself yelling in glee at the Post Office when I received my admittance letter. I was going to cartoon college!

And that's where I am today. Scheduled to graduate in 2012, I could not ask for a better art environment than CalArts, where I make a student film every year (and have had my films screened worldwide at film festivals).

And all this fancy art education goes right back to those colorful butterflies flitting their wings in the wind. Who knows where it will carry them? Who knows where it will carry me?