9/10/16...

This week was much better!  I'm finding my rhythm with all these blasted writing courses.  I shouldn't say it like that.  I am enjoying my Italian studies.  It's nice to be challenged and the course content is interesting to me.  PLUS it's really nice to be welcomed into a classroom, like I make a difference.  It's a component that's been missing since I left Pima.  The Women's Study class...not really my thing.  It is refreshing to see the spark in various students throughout the room (especially with young people).  This class, I'm perfectly fine with hanging in the background.  I'll do the work and happily take my diversity credit at the end of the semester and move on.  

I find I'm struggling most with my art classes.  I have two.  One an actual class where I'm doing art - Painting Methods.  The other, more of a lecture/reading/writing format on Studio Art.  I still don't have a clue what the expectation is for this class.  The syllabus has been changed every week.  A lot of attention has been placed on the graduate students in the class.  I'm supposed to give a 15 minute presentation in a couple of weeks on an artist whose studio I'd like to emulate.  Ummm......what?!  This too has been changed since the first class.  We spent three hours last week talking through philosophical differences in space.  Still no closer to understanding an artist's space, especially a studio space.  I can talk about several artists whose work I greatly admire....but emulate?  I'm more concerned with trying to find my own voice these days.  Which is a good segway into the painting class.  Next week I plan on posting progression photos of my first assignment for this class, and how I turned a hated assignment (self portraiture) into another piece for a series I'm working on.  I ordered a vintage map for the next canvas I'm going to work on (for the series and not the class), and I really can't wait to touch the paper and see what sparks my imagination.  I've had to make due with a space that is less than optimal for creating works of art, but I'm nothing if not determined to make this too work for me.  I think that's where my head is at with this debate on studio space - making the most from what you've got.

That being said...I have massive amounts of writing to do this weekend.  One 1500 word "journal" in Women's Studies (yesssss....I procrastinated on this big time), one 75-word Tema for Italian language class, and a 500-word essay for Italian Culture class.  Plus I think I have actual homework on adjectives for Italian class that's due Monday.  Sigh.  Oh yeah, there is more reading for the Studio class due Tuesday as soon as he uploads it.  Yay me.  Have a great week everyone!