Blue Appaloosa

Erica Liszewski

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I'm a unicorn. No, wait, come back! By that I mean that I keep hearing that people like me don't exist. (We do, by the way, I know a lot of us.) I'm as comfortable with a paint brush as a code editor. As capable at capturing form as writing functions. I can draw with pencil or pixel or polygon or programming. Do you see me? Or have I faded into myth already?

The natural world, especially the animals that fill it, are my joy and inspiration. I appreciate all living things, whether they have fur, or feathers, or scales, or chitin. I even respect those that make their own food with chlorophyll. Each organism has different ways of perceiving the world, and has it's own way of knowing and interacting with the environment around them. Take a moment and appreciate that our world has creatures living on it that are more bizarre than anything you've seen in a science fiction movie. If they can exist, surely I can too?

Technology and nature, art and science, emotion and reason; these are not opposites, or even ends of a spectrum. Each is a lens; it allows you to see some things clearly while distorting or erasing others. Put them on, one at a time or several at once, and look around. Can you see me now?

Making Games

I studied Digital Media at University of Denver for my Master's of Arts, with a focus on video games. I made several experimental video games as a part of my studies, and more after I graduated. I taught game design and game programming at the college level for nine years, as well as working on some personal projects. My recent games have been made in Unity (3d/2d games) and the HTML5 Canvas (2d games), but I've used a variety of tools, including: Godot, Processing, P5, OpenFrameworks, Scratch, Stencyl, and straight Java. I'm currently experimenting with procedural animation. You can see some of my games on Itch.io.

Writing Code

Prior to my Master's, I acquired a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science at Northern Arizona University. I was particularly interested in User Interface Design, Graphics, and the intersection between code and art. I mostly use C# (for Unity) and JavaScript (for the HTML5 Canvas) these days, but I've used a variety of programming  languages, including: Java, C++, C, Python, and PHP; and am familiar with related things like: HTML, CSS, MySQL, and AJAX. I'm starting to experiment with custom shaders. You can find code samples on my GitHub.

3d Modelling

I create 3d models for games and for 3d printing. My models for game are mostly low-poly animals, and I can also uv-map, rig, skin, and animate. Ive made a study of quadruped movement and avian flight and am currently studying arthropod movement. I've also created a variety of models for 3d printing, from functional replacement parts, to animal skulls, to kinematic models meant for wildlife education. I've also generated meshes from CT scans and cleaned up meshes generated by other people from both CT/MRI data and surface scans. I primarily use Blender, but have used Maya in the past and sometimes toy with Sculptris for sculpting and texture painting, and OpenSCAD for CAD type modelling. You can see some of my models on Sketchfab.

3d Printing

During my Master's I was introduced to 3d printing before it became feasible for individuals to have 3d printers at home. I currently work with mostly Fused Deposition Modeling type printers, primarily my Prusa MK4S, Prusa XL, and a M3D Crane I refitted with a Titan extruder. I've recently started doing resin printing with the Anycubic Mono X 6k. I've learned to do my own maintenance and tuning, modify firmware settings, and adjust slicer setting, to get the best out of my printers. I'm currently mostly using PrusaSlicer and Lychee for slicing. You can find my 3d printed models on my Etsy.

Teaching

I've spent the last decade teaching in both formal and informal settings. I've taught college courses in Game Design, Game Programming, Introduction to Programming, and Web Programming, including face-to-face, online, and hybrid courses. I have designed and developed nearly all of the courses I've taught. I've also done informal education and outreach including informational booths, nature hikes, and interactive talks on nature, wildlife, and companion animals. While I've become somewhat disillusioned with formal education, I still enjoy teaching people about things without the involvement of grades.

Critters

I've always loved animals. I've had a variety of animals in my life, including: horses, dogs, cats, parrots, as well as various reptiles, fish, and invertebrates. I volunteered with a raptor sanctuary and a parrot rescue for several years, and have trained and cared for my own critters since I was a kid. Animals inspire most of my creative works, and I love spending time with them as well as reading and learning more about them.