Ooh, this is me. I was into both computers and art in high school. I'd thought myself basic and pascal, worked as an assistant at an engineering company and was in a special art program at school. I went to a small liberal arts college unsure of which to pursue. I told my advisor I was unsure whether I wanted art or computer major. He happened to be the art dean, so that's what I signed up for, thinking I could change it if I wanted. I took some computer courses, but they were so outdated- stuff I already knew. So I stuck with art. I assumed I would do graphic design, since that seems the natural marriage of the two, but focused on fine art because I enjoyed that more. I applied for a developer position doing some web dev, taught myself VB and C#, and did a little graphic design. But the company needed more line-of-business apps, reports, etc. So that's what I did. My manager and I eventually started a consulting company, doing similar for all sorts of organizations.
I actually don't do fine art or graphic design much these days, though do want to do more on the side. For intranet apps it's just easier/cheaper to get a canned layout than design one from scratch. I do value my art education for teaching me some mental approaches to problem solving in app dev. In painting (usually), you work general to specific. Block in the big picture, then break down into more and more detail gradually. I take this approach in my apps: understand the problem, then go and block out the main classes, pages, etc. I gradually add code, adjust layouts, etc until it does what the customer needs. I also grew a thick skin in critique that I think helped me listen to criticism better ;)
I do feel I had some lucky breaks to be a fine arts major with a paying job. People took a chance on me that maybe not all art majors would get. But I do 15 years later still appreciate both and am glad for my art major.
I actually don't do fine art or graphic design much these days, though do want to do more on the side. For intranet apps it's just easier/cheaper to get a canned layout than design one from scratch. I do value my art education for teaching me some mental approaches to problem solving in app dev. In painting (usually), you work general to specific. Block in the big picture, then break down into more and more detail gradually. I take this approach in my apps: understand the problem, then go and block out the main classes, pages, etc. I gradually add code, adjust layouts, etc until it does what the customer needs. I also grew a thick skin in critique that I think helped me listen to criticism better ;)
I do feel I had some lucky breaks to be a fine arts major with a paying job. People took a chance on me that maybe not all art majors would get. But I do 15 years later still appreciate both and am glad for my art major.