Interview with Lia Tsamoglou, Artsist/Musician. Listen online at her myspace.

Who Are you?

Lia Tsamoglou.

Where are you located?

Enmore, Sydney

What do you do?

I study design, get crafty (eg. carving potatoes into miniature stamps) , and I play in 3 bands...

What do you love?

Watching people fall asleep on trains (from behind, it looks like their heads are dancing).

What does your typical day entail?

Either I work all day. If I have a day off I spend the whole day trying to work out what I want to do, so nothing gets done (I listen to music while I do all this).

Do you go to art school/study arts?

Yes! I'm about to start my final semester at COFA studying a Masters of Design.

*What difficulties did you expect to face upon graduation? *

Getting a job that I'll want...or even just getting one. Graphic design is a pretty tough field to get into and competitive.

Did you ever consider dropping out?

Maybe for a split second, but what else would I be doing???

Do you recommend the experience? If not, what are some viable alternatives that you can see?

I recommend the experience in that art school is a great place to make friends who you can collaborate with if you share the same ideas and ideologies.

I don't recommend my course because it is very theory based, which can be important, but there doesn't seem to be enough of a practical side. I think a balance is needed.

As for alternatives, the TAFE graphic design course I've heard is good with a focus on the practical side of design, but not much theory.

So as I said a balance between theory and practice would be ideal. Know anywhere that does that?

In your own practice, how have you found a balance between a creative lifestyle and keeping yourself a float?

It's generally really hard for me to stay afloat if I want to be really creative. I make money working a shitty job at least 3 or 4 days a week to make rent and expenses, then on my days off it's quite hard to be motivated to do anything creative cos I'm tired from working so much.

What are you working on at the moment?

My resume, my portfolio and some love songs.

Final words of advice?

Not just yet...I'm not where I want to be...