Featured Alumnus - February 2021
My name is Isaac. I am 29 years old and graduated from Chicago Christian High School in 2010. Let me just say that the phrase and experience of “time gets faster as you get older” is so incredibly true! I cannot believe more than an entire decade has passed since graduation. Wow!
High school was, for me, an overall good experience. I am thankful to the Lord for that, especially with how students and teachers were very welcoming. A lot of my time was spent in the art room with Mrs. Medema. Ceramics class, especially, was an enormous amount of fun being able to create real 3D physical characters and objects. Theater has always been a part of my family, so it was extremely fun to partake and be in the “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Beauty and the Beast” productions as well. It was also fun to be the one to draw and design the cover for our graduating class’s yearbook in 2010. Looking back, I can see how the Lord was preparing me in high school for even more social and experiential growth in college.
Ever since I can remember, I knew that drawing was a part of my life. No matter what subject or interest I was into, I drew it. All the way up to college, I didn’t think that art specifically was going to be a part of my life and career. Architecture became my passion and pursuit as a lifelong occupation. I was confident that was my calling, but things began to come full circle with the Lord leading me to art college instead in downtown Chicago. I studied Illustration and have a Bachelors in Fine Art.
I have worked at a graphic design firm, have drawn caricatures in downtown Chicago, and have worked fast food and other jobs to pay the bills. As of today, I have been freelancing with many clients on many projects including children’s book illustrations, logos, advertising for products and events, as well as countless others for just over 9 years. I will continue to do freelance on the side for the rest of my career. My passion, however, is in collaboration with teams of people to create animated features, shorts, or shows. Filmmaking and animation have been a part of my childhood interests and now has become my dream.
I am a little person, born with a common type of dwarfism called achondroplasia. Basically, my torso and head are proportionally correct to an adult, which is why I sit as tall as any other adult, but, my arms and legs are shorter. In my exploration within my personal art, I have begun to include little people into illustrated scenes. These scenes don’t have to be anything fantastic, but rather they show the blessings and hardships of everyday life living as a little person. Some of that art and others of mine were recently featured in a Lakeshore PBS segment within their “Eye On the Arts” show, which aired in late 2020. That was such an honor and privilege to be a part of. I am eagerly looking forward to the creative journey ahead that the Lord has laid out.
Back
High school was, for me, an overall good experience. I am thankful to the Lord for that, especially with how students and teachers were very welcoming. A lot of my time was spent in the art room with Mrs. Medema. Ceramics class, especially, was an enormous amount of fun being able to create real 3D physical characters and objects. Theater has always been a part of my family, so it was extremely fun to partake and be in the “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Beauty and the Beast” productions as well. It was also fun to be the one to draw and design the cover for our graduating class’s yearbook in 2010. Looking back, I can see how the Lord was preparing me in high school for even more social and experiential growth in college.
Ever since I can remember, I knew that drawing was a part of my life. No matter what subject or interest I was into, I drew it. All the way up to college, I didn’t think that art specifically was going to be a part of my life and career. Architecture became my passion and pursuit as a lifelong occupation. I was confident that was my calling, but things began to come full circle with the Lord leading me to art college instead in downtown Chicago. I studied Illustration and have a Bachelors in Fine Art.
I have worked at a graphic design firm, have drawn caricatures in downtown Chicago, and have worked fast food and other jobs to pay the bills. As of today, I have been freelancing with many clients on many projects including children’s book illustrations, logos, advertising for products and events, as well as countless others for just over 9 years. I will continue to do freelance on the side for the rest of my career. My passion, however, is in collaboration with teams of people to create animated features, shorts, or shows. Filmmaking and animation have been a part of my childhood interests and now has become my dream.
I am a little person, born with a common type of dwarfism called achondroplasia. Basically, my torso and head are proportionally correct to an adult, which is why I sit as tall as any other adult, but, my arms and legs are shorter. In my exploration within my personal art, I have begun to include little people into illustrated scenes. These scenes don’t have to be anything fantastic, but rather they show the blessings and hardships of everyday life living as a little person. Some of that art and others of mine were recently featured in a Lakeshore PBS segment within their “Eye On the Arts” show, which aired in late 2020. That was such an honor and privilege to be a part of. I am eagerly looking forward to the creative journey ahead that the Lord has laid out.
SCCS Association Office
12001 S. Oak Park Avenue
Palos Heights, IL 60463
708.388.7656
Palos Heights, IL 60463
708.388.7656