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 :)