School!

It's great! I'm so delighted. There seems to be a fantastic balance between guided work and free studio time. OH. And.

I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO I HAVE MY OWN STUDIO

I am already putting up a mural of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of creativity, water, the arts, and flow. And really, i've taken pictures now, so i'll post them tomorrow or later tonight.

I really like the people in my class so far, there are a few who seem like possibly good close friends, especially the guy whose studio is right next to mine. There are a few burners here, too, which i was stunned and pleased to discover. There are about 15 nationalities among ~35 people, not including the teachers.

The teachers seem fantastic, and really set on treating us like adults (Jette, the director of the school was describing their non-vertical philosophy of students and teachers). Piotr, a Polish painter (say that three times fast), is likely to be my individual tutor.

The educational structure is a module format. There are different workshops on different days. There are 132 hours of workshops offered, and they ask us to choose 40-60. They offer everything from basic welding and clothing design to introductory figure drawing. I'm currently planning on taking Body Molding, Basic Welding, Screen Printing, Textiles/Introduction to Fibres, Basic Clothes-Making, Molding/Casting, Graphic Design, Textures in Painting, Painting the Human Figure, and Portfolios/Grants/Sponsorships. I'm also planning on doing a project with Polaroid emulsion, which i did in high school and loved and haven't made the time or opportunity to do again. I'll probably also sit in on the basic figure drawing workshop, to get a review and re-teach my hands.

Yesterday i was feeling purposeless and bored and homesick. Now i'm excited and while i still miss folks back home, i'm sure this was the right decision. Looking at the spring curriculum, i'm somewhat disappointed that i'm not staying the whole year.

Now i'm off to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, to see the Nancy Spero exhibit. Nancy Spero was a pioneer of feminist art, and while i often don't like art with a specific political agenda, i saw some of her work at the MoMA New York, and it positively stunned me. So i'm looking forward to it!