Her future goals
A Whole New Mind from SJK
Katrina Schaman (Class of 2001) loves art, technology, and combining the two together with her role as a Web Developer and Digital Illustrator. She is launching into the creative realm of web development and digital illustration with a foundation in traditional art and the values of SJK. She really has epitomized the thesis of Dan Pink’s book A Whole New Mind where he advocates the creation of leaders through left and right brain action. Katrina understands the technical(the left side), but is also able to think creatively (the right side) through art to help her clients reach innovative end results.
Life after SJK
After graduation in 2001 Katrina continued her education at Queens University completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts. This unique program was one of the few in Canada that had a heavy emphasis on applied art, which meant spending a lot more time in the studio rather than in lecture halls. A true artist, she just wanted to create! It was at Queens were she began to cross into the digital realm and she enjoyed so much she decided to enroll in Sheridan College’s one year post-grad program in Web Development and Digital Media. Not wanting to get a ‘typical job as a coder,’ Katrina opted for the more creative route as a freelance developer. She lives in Toronto and serves small businesses develop websites and digital media.
Values from SJK
Katrina spent 12 years at the school and has many fond memories of life at SJK. “SJK allowed us to be who we wanted to be. There were no cliques and we had strong support from our teachers.” Katrina remembers the many trips she took with SJK, time on the field hockey pitch, art class with Ms. MacDonald, and sneaking down for dips on the Pond more times than she should have! When she made the transition to university, she remembers it being a lot easier for her than her classmates from other high schools. “SJK set us up extremely well for university by teaching us how to manage our workload, make time for friends, and balance work and life.”
Her future goals
As Katrina launches her career she is excited for what may come. On the near horizon she is looking forward to partnering up with a few other like minded techno-artists and start their own company. In the long run she is excited to explore the possibilities of illustrating children’s books and finding ways to integrate social media components. She is becoming more and more interested in the marketing and business development side of social mediums and digital media and excited to explore it further.
Please check out Katrina’s website for more information and see some examples of her work. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to Katrina if you are in need of some great web development or digital illustration.