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Anna H

- Research Program Mentor

MFA candidate at Bay Path University

Expertise

Creative Non-Fiction and Illustration for Story telling purposes

Bio

Hello and Guten Tag! I have been creative for the majority of my life, growing up never second-guessing my creativity and pursuing it wholeheartedly. I studied Production Animation at a time when this was a rare field and only a handful of women were in the program. I loved the various facets of the education I received. Traditional media meeting the digital production pipeline. Thousands of sketches meeting polished work. I taught high school students during the summers. I loved it. But the downside of the 80hr work weeks included premature burnout. I briefly worked in the industry of medical animation before life took me on a wild ride and I put down the proverbial paintbrush. This wild ride included travels to India, Thailand, and Indonesia, studying various topics ranging from Psychology to Art History, Photography, to Project Management. I am curious and always up for learning and exploring new subjects. Then Ironman Triathlon took me by storm to pursue personal and athletic excellence which inspired my entrepreneur spirit to open a fitness and lifestyle business to inspire and coach others. This is when I pursued an MFA in Creative non-Fiction because life is wild: There is so much inspiration for creativity found within it. Then the pandemic hit after I gave birth to my first child, my daughter. I paused my studies until I can resume classes in person again. Meanwhile, I have returned to the world of children's book illustration as my now 16-months old daughter has inspired me to get back to my childhood dream of becoming a writer and illustrator of children's books.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Illustrate your Day

As a daily exercise, I want you to pick out your favorite sketchbook, portable, please! What you will do is a sketch with pencil items that impact your every day. Compose them on the page. Play with dimensions. Enter the world of Salvador Dali. Is the time running away? Then make it run. Use a waterproof pen to play with line weight. Add patterns and texture. Then when you have the time later in the day add dashes of watercolor to your liking. No need to stay inside the line. Be wild. Keep space for some journaling. See your day come alive as the day comes to an end.

10 minute writing from the soul: what will it reveal?

Inspiration is found deep within. What do you remember? Write. Let your fingers dance. Remember something in detail? Bus driving by your house? Write it. Let your consciousness flow through you. Write as much as you can. Exercise a little creativity and elaborate. Let's take a look at what comes out and then let us draw and paint.

Languages I know

German

Teaching experience

Throughout college, At DigiPen Institute of Technology, I taught the Summer Workshops. These were 2-week full-day sessions committed to teaching the fundamentals of Animation and get the students to produce 30-second shorts, which inevitably included lessons on storytelling, composition, framing, storyboarding, and such. It has been a while since then, however having worked as a Personal Trainer in a 1-1, 4-1, and group session also meant “teaching.” Now as a Mom, I am teaching seemingly 24/7, although my "student" is still very young and very stubborn.

Credentials

Education

DigiPen Institute of Technology
BFA Bachelor of Fine Arts (2011)
Animation
California College of the Arts
MFA Master of Fine Arts candidate
Creative Non-Fiction
Bay Path University
MFA Master of Fine Arts candidate
Creative Non-Fiction

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