Keyper's Cove

     I was looking at the traditional art section on DeviantArt the other day and ran across a metalsmithed necklace created using watch parts and a skeleton key.  The description linked me to a shop on Etsy called Keyper's Cove.  This man and his sister run the shop, selling their metalsmithed necklaces, lockets, and other types of pendants.  Each of the items are handmade, thus each is completely original and different from any other.

     Prices for these keys range from five to fifty dollars.  New items are added and removed daily as they are bought from the shop.  

    Before I ran across this, I had never thought of metalsmithing as a medium in which I was interested.  Now, however, I look forward to attempting to create my own steampunk-style, skeleton key necklace.  It will, of course, be uniquely my design and a piece of art I can keep with me all the time.

Video Game Design

      It's likely that video game design is both the nerdiest and most entertaining artistic career one can choose.  I particularly enjoy it because, as a dork myself, I've grown up surrounded by the distracting, yet extremely entertaining alternate realities with which gaming systems have provided us.  From Sonic on the Sega Genesis and Donkey Kong on Nintendo64 to the current amusements of Halo and Call of Duty on PS3 and Xbox 360, I've experienced it all.  I've always envied those lucky, talented dweebs who design those games for a living.

     The video game design field is a very competitive field, and only the most talented and qualified artists are very successful.  The fields of game design range from gaming on computers, TVs, and mobile phones to arcade/web gaming and gaming for training purposes.  Most game designers for anywhere from 50 to 70 hours a week, earning an average salary of $42k-62k, depending on experience.  While artistic talent is a must, it is also required that artists understand basic math concepts so that they may put 3D elements of a game into correct perspective.  One has a much higher chance of getting a job with a bachelors degree in fine arts or another art-related area, but it is not required.  Communication skills are also essential, as most game designers work in a team, rather than on their own.