It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

The last five months of my life have been the worst ever for me because of the mobility issues that I started suffering from last year. For many weeks it meant I couldn’t walk out of the house and couldn’t use my hands or arms for anything, Including computing, driving, swimming or playing music. This has had a huge impact on me and my family. I'm still reliant on them when it comes to driving anywhere and I can't help around the house to the extent that I used to be able to. Happily I have finally have a diagnosis. I probably have a form of viral arthritis. I am now on a course of steroid tablets as of last Saturday which seems to be making a huge difference, certainly in terms of being able to walk, but computing has also become slightly easier. Voice dictation has enabled me to work on the computer for a few hours a day. I can do a little bit of surface modelling, but because of the intensity of the mouse and keyboard clicks, that’s pretty much limited to about 20 minutes at a time.?

Despite the fact that this has been the worst time of my life, it is also been a wonderful time - which I know sounds crazy! In particular I feel blessed to have a great family and friends who have supported me.?

Early on I felt I had two choices. Either I could worry about all of the things I couldn't do or I could concentrate on the things that I could do. I chose the latter. What I could still do was talk and write (with the aid of voice dictation) and so it's led me to rediscover my love of teaching surface modelling. I've also become involved in a research project at the cutting edge of surface technology applications as well as collaborating on various projects with a number of people which promise to be mutually beneficial.?

It's been great to rekindle old relationships and to meet and help new people. As an “industry veteran” (a term I'd prefer to “old guy”!) I've been able to help newer users skip the usual trial and error stage involved in learning surfacing. New users shouldn't need to spend months and months learning how to solve technical issues. They really want to progress quickly and express themselves creatively with surfaces. With mentoring they can do this. I love helping them in this and seeing how quickly they develop. Some of my students are intermediate or even advanced. Even then I know I can help them. If nothing else another pair of eyes is always a good thing.?

With intermediate or advanced students I always start by asking them to send me some of their models. It's exciting to see what they're trying to create and to help them in the process. Sometimes the areas they're trying to solve are extremely difficult but there is always a solution. All surfacing problems can be solved by going back to first principles.

Unfortunately I can't do one-to-one teaching for everyone. However I have developed the www.learnsurfacing.com website to enable people to do self-paced online training. Members of the site have access to my Alias Automotive Foundation Course as well as all of the other materials on the site.This includes a course called Alias Methods which looks in real depth at some of the Alias functionality. The information in these videos does not exist elsewhere. In time I will be adding more materials to the site. There is also a community area and a discord server for members.?

If you want to know more about www.learnsurfacing.com either click on the link or contact me directly. I'm happy to answer all of your questions.?