My name is Elizabeth Rose Mahan. Named after each of my parents grandparents, very creative. The H in my last name is actually silent…so my last name is pronounced like “man”. I usually don’t correct people, but this paper is supposed to be about me and who I am, and I felt as if I should share. I go by Lizzy for short, but most of my friends and family call me Liz. I was born in Austin, Texas in the downtown Saint David’s hospital 5 miles from the UT campus. I never grew up as a UT fan, so being a student at OU isn’t as big of a deal as most people make it out to be. I am an only child but I am not a brat, contrary to popular belief. I grew up with parents who cared for me and did everything in their power to make me happy, but no one is perfect. My dad worked full time as a project manager for 11 years at an electrical company in North Austin up until last December when he was laid off. But I guess things work out for the best, because he hated that job. He now owns his own company called DSA (short for Diversified Services of Austin) where he is his own boss as general contractor & he loves it. My mom has always been in and out of work and has never stayed anywhere for longer than 2 years. She started working for Cook Walden Funeral Home again last fall and is doing well, so fingers crossed she keeps it up so I can continue to study at OU (out of state tuition is no joke). Throughout elementary school, I always looked forward to art over music class and PE. I took art in the 7th grade and got placed in Advanced Art in the 8th grade. I think middle school was when people started to notice my talents in art. I felt like people knew me as “creative” and I liked the idea of being an artist. I started playing volleyball in middle school as well and people started to recognize me as athletic. I found my identity in this sport for quite some time. When high school rolled around, I chose the academy “Architecture and Interior Design” and left art classes behind. I thought that when I grew up I wanted to be an interior designer, something that was creativity based but still realistic in the real world. Two weeks before my freshman year, the only architect teacher at Round Rock High School up and left, so my advisor stuck me in “Intro to Art and Communications”. My academy switched to Graphic Design and Print Shop and I had no idea what that entailed other than that was one of my only options. I was lucky enough to have a talented teacher who saw my potential and took time to teach me and walk me through the Adobe software. I picked up on things pretty quick and realized that I loved print design. I was placed in Advanced Graphic Design my junior year and was in Practicum my senior year. I helped design posters for my school that were printed to advertise for upcoming events and t-shirts for various organizations. During high school, people began to know me as a designer, and I was content with that. I played volleyball and was on varsity for my last two years. I absolutely hated it. I was not as good as I once had been and found no interest in playing. I stuck with it because people convinced me that I would regret quitting and I had a lot of friends on the team. I became insecure because I was not as good as everyone else, so I took on the roll of the team clown and did careless things to make others laugh. People knew me as the girl on the team who was not a hard worker & who did not care about the game- but hey, at least she was funny. I used this as a mask to cover up how unhappy I was at that point in my life. I found a church the beginning of my junior year where I met some of the most important people in my life. I began to explore this newfound relationship with Christ and allowed myself to take on an image of someone who loved Jesus. I think that that prepared me for the following year with everything that happened with my family. On Valentines Day of 2016 (junior year) my parents told me they were going to get a divorce. Isn’t that ironic? Still gets me to this day… Anyways, my world kind of turned upside down. Both of my parents struggled with alcohol and drug abuse and I experienced firsthand what it was like to feel like a second choice from that. I was in this place of feeling lonely and unwanted, but I was surrounded by people at school and church who loved me. I went through a phase of rebelling and doing stupid things to try to get my parents attention. I went on my first mission trip that following to summer to Uganda and realized that my heart is truly in missions. That summer was a turning point in my life despite the fact that my parents were slightly out of the picture. My senior year of high school I focused more on graphic design than volleyball or schoolwork. I was a senior Young Life leader and I had a group of freshman girls that I led. My senior year of high school was the hardest year of the 18 years I have been on this Earth, but I learned so many things about who I am and what I want to do with my life.

​

I guess since I am used to designing posters for a specific reason, I have lost sight of my own style. I am drawn to vibrant, modern ideas and patterns. To be completely honest, I’m not certain that I am aware of major themes that appear in my artwork. I have very scattered ideas and sometimes it’s hard for me to describe what exactly they are. I know that in the future, I want to use my art to help people. My dream is to be a designer for a non-profit organization to help raise money for people who are suffering. I don’t know how likely it is to be a t-shirt or poster designer for Arise Africa or Nicaragua Resource Network while also being able to serve on mission, but I would sign up in a heartbeat if I could. I would also be interested in promoting the risks of alcohol and drug addiction through art and poster design to help families and individuals who struggle with substance abuse. Pursuing a design career for Young Life, whether that be merchandise or t-shirts, would be ideal as well. These are things I am passionate about and are all things that have affected my life in one form or fashion, which is why I am interested in using my art to feed these concerns.

​

In this course I want to accomplish many things…frankly, the first class scared me a bit because I feel like my mind doesn’t work the way it should to understand this material. But too, I know that’s the reason why I am here, so I am ready to learn. I hope that this course will open my mind to different forms of art and that I will have a better understanding and appreciation of art. I learn best by being shown physically and having things instructed in front of me step by step. Something that gives me confidence are words of affirmation. I’m most motivated when I collaborate with others and come to a sense of an agreement within an idea. I like feeling like I am not alone and that others understand my ideas and support them. I am excited for this class and I am excited to be pushed as an artist. I realize that this course will help me grow not just as an artist but also as a person.

​