Who, What, When, Where and Know Hows

My name is Diana and I have been teaching computer graphics at St. Charles Community College for the past five years. I am not a graphic artist and I make no claims whatsoever to having even a modicum of talent, but I love Adobe Illustrator and have had the pleasure of teaching many very talented students to use the program efficiently.

I started out at SCC as a student. My husband pushed the "wherever thou goest, I go" promise to the hilt and we passed through six states in 25 years. This was problematic when I was teaching elementary school because each time we moved I had to take state required tests, jump through various flaming hoops and substitute teach to "get my foot in the door." (Flaming hoops were much more pleasant than the substitute teaching.) When we moved to Illinois in the 1990s I moved away from classroom teaching and began working for Arthur Andersen. I toiled in the production department of their learning development facility for five years. Soon after we moved to Missouri, Arthur Andersen went kerplunk. (I had no idea how much they were depending on me!)

Aimlessly meandering through my days in St. Charles, I stumbled upon a brochure offering an opportunity to earn a certificate in multimedia from SCC. (Better than finding opportunity on a matchbook.) I figured that it would be a good way to meet people in the area and it would afford me the opportunity to play with lots of fun multimedia software, so I signed up.

I was one of those annoying older students who hold up class asking inconsequential questions and fly into a frenzy every time they miss a single question on a test. After I had finished the program, I was asked to join the staff as an adjunct and to teach Illustrator in the computer graphics class. I have built up my repertoire so that I am now also teaching digital photo editing with Photoshop. But, Illustrator is and always will be my first love. (Don't tell my husband--he'd probably make me move again.)

I am starting this blog as a project for a graduate course that I am taking at University of Missouri--Columbia. My first impulse was to create a Webquest about invasive species in the Midwest, but looking out at my weed-ridden garden I realized that it would be a case of not practicing what I was preaching. Then I remembered the old adage about doing what you know (or something along that line.) So, I have decided to create this blog and to write about what goes on in my classroom, and share some hints and lessons that I have developed over the years.

I hope that this site will serve as a resource for my students, past and present, who need support or inspiration. I also think it would be a wonderful thing if this blog should inspire some new budding artists to try their hand at Adobe Illustrator.

Why Industrious Illustrator? I have an affinity for alliteration, but neither illicit nor illuvial quite convey the intended message. Besides, what I lack in talent, I make up for with hard work.