DR. WALLACE: I'm an art student, painter and dreamer. In my best version of the dream I have for my life, I see my paintings becoming well known, and I am able to comfortably paint for a living for all my days. I'm more concerned with sustainable, moderate financial success rather than big monetary windfalls, if you catch my drift. A steady, ongoing career would be just fine for me in this field that I consider pure joy, not work.

So imagine my surprise when one of my professors mentioned that he had heard from some others that a few students from our school had their works displayed at a prestigious gallery in the state capital, an hour north of us. My name was one of three students included in the showing, so I rushed up there at my first opportunity to photograph my art in such a famous gallery.

But after walking around for over a half an hour and looking at everything very carefully, I didn't see my art anywhere at all. I felt extremely deflated and was about to leave, but I thought I would at least ask one of the ushers there why my art wasn't being displayed despite my receiving notification that it was.

He asked me to walk down the hall and check the conference rooms, the food canteen and even the bathrooms! I walked in the direction he pointed, and indeed there were paintings up in the conference room, but nothing of mine. The same was true in the food canteen area, but when I went into the men's bathroom, lo and behold, my painting was one of three in that room! At least it wasn't directly above a commode, as it was on the opposite wall.

I felt a bizarre mixture of shame and pride, then pride and shame, in that order. Do you think this gallery was intentionally trying to demean me and the two other artists whose works appeared in the men's room? First, only male patrons would ever see them anyway, which cuts out half of the viewing audience. I drove back down to my hometown area with decidedly mixed emotions. Why in the world would such a prestigious gallery stoop so low as to put artwork that I put my heart and soul into on the wall in a dingy bathroom? — An Unhappy Viewing, via email

AN UNHAPPY VIEWING: I feel your frustration, but look at the bright side. You will forever be able to say that your art was displayed in that prestigious gallery, even though you know the location was less than optimal from your personal point of view.

I checked with various artists and found that displaying art on any available surface in a prestigious location is deemed not only acceptable but complimentary to all artists that have their pieces rise to that level.

So from that perspective, you're in rare air, no pun intended. Continue forward with pride in what you accomplished. Trust me, no one was trying to disparage you or the others in any way shape or form. Their intentions were quite to the contrary, as they gave up-and-coming artists whose talent they respected an opportunity to be viewed and known, and to benefit by building up their resumes accordingly.

I WANT TO FIND NEW TRENDS BEFORE THE WORLD DOES!

DR. WALLACE: I'm a high school senior, and I attended an interesting seminar this past weekend that was titled "The Ultimate Side Hustle." It basically outlined the principle that whoever can correctly predict future trends before they happen will become extremely wealthy and powerful.

The presentation cited several trends, products and companies who seemed to come out of nowhere to become household names. The presenter said there are new ones being formed in the shadows right now, and it's our job to find them.

Where do you think I should look first? — Seeking to Dominate New Trends, via email

SEEKING TO DOMINATE NEW TRENDS: I hope you didn't invest too much in your admission ticket to that presentation! Simply looking backward to show successful products and companies that exist today is more of a history lesson rather than an insight into the future.

I've always believed that following fields of study that truly interest you at an organic and innate level is far better than trying to chase down new trends that you may know little to nothing about. Something that you are highly interested in and know a lot about at a young age gives you a tremendous leg up versus the competition, and this insight serves as your advantage.

On the other hand, new trends will arrive out of the blue and are being pursued by every large corporation in the world. On top of that, they're doing it with artificial intelligence far beyond anything you currently have access to. This is why developing knowledge and skills in a specific field of study that interests you is the best avenue toward achieving something meaningful, as your current hopes and dreams indicate.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Serenity Mitchell at Unsplash