“I've kind of always wanted to and it just seemed like the right time to go to school”, says Chelsea Gibbons on why she pursued Digital Media Design at LaSalle College International Vancouver (LCIV). “I always just did things for friends - paintings, glass mosaics… if I could pursue art and graphic design in a career, I'd be really happy.”

Art has been a passion for Chelsea all throughout her life. One significant moment that still stands out for her as a defining moment in why she pursued art is a drawing that one of her old babysitters did. Her babysitter ended up going to Emily Carr and becoming a successful artist, and she remains as an inspiration to Chelsea.

“I really like it all. I love trying to incorporate my artwork with design by bringing some part of my fine art into the design aspect without using someone else’s images,” says Chelsea about the Digital Media Design program she’s currently taking right now at LCIV.

“601 Bridgeport Station” is the name of Chelsea’s first art exhibition that is going to take place alongside LaSalle’s open house tomorrow, November 24^th, 2010, from 3 pm to 7 pm.

All the drawings featured in her exhibition came from drawing on the bus-ride to school and only having 15 minutes to draw. “I'd have to draw the person in front of me in 15 minutes and it became something I was doing every other day. I showed Angel (one of the instructors here at LaSalle) my drawings and he really liked them, so he suggested I do an art exhibit later on,” she says.

When she got on the bus, she’d always try and sit behind people that she wanted to draw. “I'd always make sure my sketchbook was in the drawing so it would feel like I was in the drawing,”Chelsea explains. She also explained that by putting herself in the sketch, it would make viewers feel like they were there too and part of the illustration. “I want you to see what I see,” she says.

Chelsea wants to dedicate this exhibition to her friend, Nicole Turner, who just recently passed away.

- Written by Gretchen Cruz