Apply Yourself

As you may have noticed in the header for this blog, I state that I am on a quest of all things art for the period of one year with the intent of applying to a Master of Fine Arts program at the end of said year.  The prospect of an MFA has always held a romantic place in my heart.  All the cool kids have one.  When I initially started talking about going back to school for mine, I got "mixed reviews" from those who let me chew their ears off about it.   I received both encouragement and discouragement on the topic and I shunned the discouragers as haters.  "What good will that do you?" they asked.  "What are you going to do with an MFA, teach??",  like that would be the worst thing possible for anyone to ever do in the history of doing things.  I usually answered by saying something to the effect that I was following my bliss and that I didn't need a financial or career oriented goal in mind in order to get my MFA.  I've always wanted to get it and so damned it to hell - I'm going to do it just cause I wanna.

My romance with the MFA, albeit a long and rocky one, has come to an end.  I tried it once in 2000(ish) and had to drop the program because my father died in the middle of it all and, well, I just couldn't deal.  And as much as I wanted the naysayers to be condemned to the pits of hell for trying to discourage me, it seems as if they actually gave me a better idea.  What if teaching art was something I chose on purpose (rather than something to "fall back on" as a certain tuition-footing parental unit of mine used to quip long ago).  Today, I put in my application for an Art Education degree.  I still need to tie up some loose ends on that, but they have my money and the ball's-a-rollin'.  Some of you may be saying to yourself, "But Helen - you don't even like kids!".  True enough, but teaching them art sounds fascinating to me.  Recall, my favorite teachers were always art teachers - I can still name all of them K-12:  Mrs. Sirotowitz, Mr. Hobart, Mr. Levine, Mr. Spitz, Ms. Lebenson.  College gets a little foggy (I was a little foggy) and there were a lot of them, so cut me some slack here (Brigid may be able to shed some light on this).  All of these people inspired me - even the ones whose names I can't recall.  They sparked something in me.  They taught me how to be creative and how to think and why I should. 

So think, I shall - and create too - and share the inspiration I've felt with art with others who want it.  There's no guarantee I'll be accepted to the program, so wish me loads of luck and keep your fingers and toes crossed for me (I'm not superstitious - really, I'm not).

And Then The Next Thing You Know...

How does two weeks of intertia turn in to nearly three months?  I'll tell you how - two consecutive bouts with bronchitis coupled with a business trip out of the country and an additional bout with allergies can really slam a girl down.  No excuses here, rather some serious painter's block and exhausting physical ailments.  That's not to say there aren't ideas swarming in my head from moment to moment, but when taking a clear breath is difficult to impossible, all else seems to just get put on the back burner.  Trying to be gentle with myself and not give myself too hard of a time for the inactivity, but also trying to give myself a kick in the pants.

Got back in to the studio for a little while yesterday, so am feeling nearly ready to jump back on that horse again.  I don't need inspiration, I just need to work.

A big thank you to Les Castellanos who was a great sounding board for me tonight.  Thanks for the ideas and the encouragement.