Radcliff balances pursuit of law career with love for art

Matilda Radcliff admits she is ridiculously competitive in everything. The junior at Purdue University Fort Wayne understands and accepts this about herself and uses the trait to give her the necessary drive.

An outstanding student majoring in political science with minors in Spanish and English, Radcliff dreams of practicing corporate law and has a tight timetable as she provides for her infant son, who usually comes with her to campus and sleeps through classes. Besides studying, participating in the Honors Program, and caring for the baby, she works part-time jobs and frequently exercises to maintain her energy.  

“The school has a phenomenal reputation and I figured this was the best place to get me where I wanted to go,” Radcliff said. “I’ve always had a passion for the law. I was exposed to big business at a young age. I was in business meetings, and I saw how they all operated. My grandfather was a corporate attorney, and I just kind of got an adrenaline rush off of it. It was fun.”

But what in particular?

“There is so much more communication going on in the room,” Radcliff said, “the words that were being said and reading the room and then figuring out if what I picked up was incorrect or correct. I felt like I could trust my intuition, and knew I wanted to do some type of law.”

Maybe the hardest part of meeting her goals includes finding time to provide the balance of other interests and time to refresh. That comes from Radcliff’s creative side as a professional competitive artist, calling it her safe space. She has performed well in previous Three Rivers Festival events and will be a main attraction at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art’s Chalk Walk 25 on Saturday and Sunday, downtown on Main Street.

Creating images in chalk takes planning and stamina, sometimes spending 27 hours over a weekend, kneeling, bending over, and even crawling to place specific markings over more than 150 square feet of pavement. Sometimes the biggest challenge is not exhausting herself in the heat while working on cement or blacktop.

During last year’s Three Rivers Festival, while five months pregnant, Radcliff created a masterpiece of a neon white shark swimming through a reef. Another year, she drew a full-color tiger with its face partially submerged as a fish swims by. Another favorite was a peacock, beautiful as anything at the Fort Wayne Zoo, with blue and green plumage.

Radcliff freehand draws, pressing the granules into the pavement in layers, feeling the colors mix. Always sunburned no matter how much protection she applies, when finished, Radcliff is covered in chalk and sweat, empty physically and mentally. Even with a next-day chiropractor visit and massage, recovery takes a week. Pain will subside, she said.

Despite developing invitations to more competitions, Radcliff said her art can’t become a full-time job.

“I wouldn’t love it as much if it became something I had to do, and it becomes that the second you turn it into a career path,” Radcliff said. “Expectations get put into place, people’s opinions get involved, and it gets more political. I don’t have any of that now, and ironically, that’s what has made me successful, because I just do it because I love it.

“Honestly, it’s just been my peace for some reason. Whenever I’ve needed an escape from reality or to feel, or process any kind of emotion or any kind of frustration, or if I’m overwhelmed, it’s been an easy way for me to block out the noise.”

Those moments of inner peace seem to be part of the formula that helps Radcliff recharge her passion for studying political science and pursuing a career in law.

“It’s not about competing with others as much as seeing if I can keep pushing myself a little further each time to reach my goals and become the person 9-year-old me would be proud of and now, also, that my son will be proud of,” Radcliff said. “If I’m not taking care of myself, if I’m not doing fulfilling things, then I’m not going to be good for him.”