Precious Family Time

Last week I got to see Becky & Marshall for the first time in about a year, and Dawn again!  My grandma Jackson is recovering from heart surgery (and doing well, thanks to God) so Marshall & Becky came down from Minnesota where they were with Becky's family, and Dawn came from Michigan, and we all crammed in my little studio apartment! :)  

It was so good to spend time with time with them and watch the Olympics and read late into the evening and laugh a lot.  We went to see the latest Pixar film, Wall-E (very sweet & fun & cautionary, but not in a Happy Feet kind of way :)  And while I was at work, they discovered our fabulous downtown library and Monument Circle, Indy's Civil War memorial, which is a passion of Becky's.  (Did you know Indy is second only to Washington DC in public memorials & monuments per capita?)  On Friday I took the day off and we went to the Indiana State Fair, a first for all of us, and worth the $8 admission (& free parking! who does that anymore??)  We saw 2 of the 30 white tigers in existence, Indiana raptors (the carnivorous birds, not the dinosaurs), and all kinds of great food and exhibits on pioneer life, farming and conservation.  Marshall even got to shoot an air rifle at the DNR's responsible hunting exhibit and never missed the target!  And of course we had to look at all the 4H exhibits and animals (Becky, for reasons passing understanding, flipped over the lamas - did you know you can dye their wool with Kool-Aid? :)  We ended the day by watching old-fashioned cart & horse showings - forgive me Jazlin, I have no idea what this is called!  But the horses & surrey wagons were gorgeous, even though we didn't have much luck picking the winner.

The only thing missing was Dad, working hard in California to get a promotion so they can move closer to the rest of us.  Love you Papa, and can't wait until we can do all this stuff for-real together! :)

P.S.  I unfortunately don't have photos because my camera is in the shop and Dawn's called in sick :(

Back to School

I started classes again yesterday, just 2 again for this semester, and it was a wise choice!  I have Drawing 1, in which we keep a sketchbook outside of homework & classwork, like writers keep a journal, and 2-Dimensional Design, in which the prof stated being a student is our full-time job & we should try to cut back on work hours.  If he can read minds, I've already flunked.

But overall I'm still pleased with the quality of work coming out of the school and excited & nervous about the amount of growth I need to accomplish to keep up.  I'm also trying not to hyperventilate about the amount of money I'm putting out in professional supplies when I've made do with craft supplies for so long.

People have asked, and I've wondered, why do I need to go to art school when so much of my progress rests on individual practice & skill development, when I can study in museums  & the abundant resources in books & online & in popular culture.  The answer was clear today in the 20 people sitting in my classroom.  Each of us bring our own perspective, culture, & aesthetic to design and I can't learn from a book the 19 ways they will approach the same problem that will be distinctly different from my own.  We students are each others' teachers as much as the professor, because we shed light on a different element of the whole than the others would have seen.  It's the same reason we like both versions of Pride & Prejudice or admire the way different teams play the same sport, or whatever - we appreciate & learn from different approaches to the same material.  In class, with different instructors, we get to see it up close with people who are pursuing excellence and hopefully grow from that exposure.  Also, I'm thinking a lot about teaching and have learned important lessons this week about what not to do :)

P.S. If you're interested in the classroom experience and what to look for in a teacher, read Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire and There Are No Shortcuts - his 5th graders perform Shakespeare around the country and none of them speak English as a first language...and they LIKE science, go figure :)