Design Institute of San Diego

No Limit to Creative Expression

It's often said that when it comes to choosing a career, we should follow our passions. Though probably true, it is rare to find someone who takes that as much to heart as Design Institute of San Diego instructor Ann Parker.

Ann, like most people, has a multitude of interests. Unlike most people, she pursues each with fervor and passion, which is impressive given the wide range of these interests. She picked up hula dancing while living in Hawaii and has been teaching it for the past 13 years. She has a huge interest in marine science and biology, and though she has not turned this passion into a career, she did have a stint at the Birch Aquarium as a science teacher and whale watch naturalist. And though she hasn't had as much time for it while being a mother, Ann is also an artist. She enjoys painting with watercolors and acrylics. "I have an outdoor covered area that is water tight and facing a beautiful garden. I find it so inspiring and the perfect place for painting." She is also an interior designer, working mainly with residential clients. And to top it all off, she teaches Quick Sketching at DISD and even holds refresher workshops for graduates. Though it's hard to understand how this wonder woman can do so much with the same number of hours as everyone else, her path to this point may hold a few clues.

As the daughter of an aeronautical engineer and an artist (specifically dancing and flower arrangement), Ann had both sides of her brain stimulated growing up. However, it was obvious from a young age that she was artistically gifted. "In the 6th grade, I would go to the 1st grade classroom and do all of the bulletin boards, and help the 1st graders with their projects. So I actually started teaching back then!" In middle school, she received an achievement award for art and was highly encouraged by her teachers. But when choosing a career path in college, her wide range of interests made it difficult to narrow it down. She went from undeclared, to a major in Jewelry Design, to English and then finally Interior Design. "It felt like a good fit because it played to a lot of my interests with the verbal, artistic and social parts."

Ann's first job in the industry was an internship for a commercial design firm in downtown San Diego, where she worked part time while in school and then full time after graduation. Besides having designers on staff, they were also a construction company, and Ann learned a lot from the in-house cabinet shop, furniture sales department and contractors. "I always advise students to get a good internship and really do well with it because it's a good way to get your foot in the door. It's not as glamorous, at first, doing things like color boards and ordering samples, but eventually you work your way to more fulfilling types of work."

When the design director of that company left to start her own firm, Ann went with her. But first she spent six weeks traveling through Europe with a fellow design graduate, a trip she remembers with great fondness. "We spent all of our time in museums and looking at famous buildings. It was amazing." Once back in the states, Ann continued to do commercial design. "We did mainly tenant improvements: a golf club manufacturing plant, restaurants, retail shops, lots of open office space planning and a birthing center. That was probably the most rewarding." She eventually left because it was becoming difficult to balance the daily grind of deadlines with her new role as a mother. That is when she started teaching.

Ann taught space planning, building codes, perspective and rendering, and visual merchandising at Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising for three years and then came to Design Institute of San Diego, where she has been for almost 15 years. "I liked teaching right off. I just felt very comfortable." Ann currently teaches Quick Sketching, which is her favorite class. "Some people in the beginning feel uncomfortable even drawing a box and then by the end of the semester they're drawing something that they visualize from their minds-eye. To me, that is incredible. I love to see that journey unfold. Seeing people start to trust that creative side within themselves really keeps me going. It's always there for people once they allow themselves to experience it."

Ann is loved by her students, largely because she understands the pressures of perfectionism and creates a safe environment where mistakes are okay. "It's just drawing sit-ups," she explained. "It's making your visualization skills stronger, so who cares if it's not perfect?"

That gentle approach is carried into her interior design business, which she has maintained while teaching. "I find residential work to be rewarding because it's more personal and it's challenging for that reason at times. I enjoy getting into the heart of the family and figuring out how to make everyone feel validated in their opinion." But no matter how much she enjoys interior design, she plans to never stop teaching. "I love working at Design Institute of San Diego. The students are amazing, the faculty is amazing, the administration and staff...everyone is just so supportive. I tell my students that it is a luxury to have a whole semester just on quick sketching! To me it makes the school stand apart." Ann's belief in the power of hand sketching has driven her to teach private classes as well. "When I sketch for a client it's very casual and rough, but there's something so immediate and emotional about it. It's just such a great tool."

Moving forward, once her home is an empty nest, Ann plans to explore more collaborations with other artists in her hula group. "I like the collaboration of bringing together different mediums and aspects of performance art." Often people feel the need to specialize in one thing, but Ann is the perfect example of how to enjoy multiple interests. "I just find the world so beautiful and fascinating. I can't just be fascinated by one thing. It's all too incredible."