Blaine Willard Call

My adventures in art started out the same as most kids, coloring with crayons and drawing on scrap paper. I suffered through art class in Jr. High School, but once I got to high school I got excited about art and have been drawing and painting ever since. In college I started to realize some of the opportunities that art would offer me in life. I pursued a degree in illustration and was in my last year of studies when a fellow artist convinced me to take some education classes to be a teacher. Originally against this idea I did not, but with a little persuasion I relented and took the education classes. I graduated and also obtained my teaching credentials and took a job teaching high school.

As a teacher I have had a lot of freedom to explore and experiment in many areas of art. Teaching gave me the opportunity to constantly draw and paint. Also, I did ceramic pottery and sculpture, painted sets for plays, painted murals, taught traditional and digital photography classes, did graphic design, taught art history, and also learned to work in stained glass.

As a public education teacher, I found it necessary to have a little more income, which led me to obtaining my master’s degree in illustration. I began working in the evenings for the College of Southern Idaho and now for BYU Idaho. Teaching at the college level has been rewarding for me as a teacher and I value the time I get to spend with the student as they explore their art interests.

This journey that my interest in art has taken me on has been both rewarding and challenging, but one I would not change for the world.