I started my morning today with a run through the Pine Barrens on campus. I discovered lots of beautiful paths through the woods in an attempt to run around the lake. Some areas were impassable so I turned around and found another path. Although I never found my way all the way around the lake, I got sweaty and dirty and had the opportunity to capture some amazing shots. It's not about the destination, but the journey, right?
After my run, day 3 of my art journey started with getting into the lab to learn how to edit our photos through Adobe Lightroom. The first few hours consisted of absorbing a lot of information, taking frantic notes, and asking many questions. I am teaching digital photo this upcoming school year and have a lot of anxiety about working with students and computers. While I am confident in my teaching abilities and can handle any art room, technology can shake that positivity. Something about teaching students on a machine they are probably more capable on than I am has always made me a little insecure and nervous... Sitting in a lab with eight other adults politely asking questions at the same time felt a little stressful. What about when it's twenty teenagers?
It is the calm, patience, and knowledge in Wendel White that has showed me that I can't allow the computer to throw me. I've never been afraid of a room full of teenagers before. Why would I start now!? Today I realized that I can treat the needs of my students in the lab the way I do in any room by asking for patience and promising everyone individual time to answer questions.
Something amazing about a place like aTi is that you have the opportunity to learn from the instructors in two ways. First, you learn valuable knowledge about techniques and skills that you can bring back to your classroom and incorporate in your own work. Second, you get to BE the student again and pay close attention to effective teaching strategies. Both are extremely inspiring and valuable.
While riding on my new high horse of confidence today, I became fairly proficient in Lightroom and edited some amazing photos! I am excited about the direction my water themed work is taking and look forward to continuing my journey this week. While it is about the journey, it's pretty excellent when the destination is exciting as well.
After seven hours in the lab, I headed to the printmaking studio to continue another piece. While cutting out tiny intricate details of a tree line I thought for a second I might be crazy. In my "free" hour between class and dinner, I am voluntarily doing more work. Tedious tiny cutting started to feel a little narcissistic. But when will I have another opportunity for my entire day to be completely devoted to art?
While walking home past the lake smiling after dinner, I stumbled upon an extraordinary site. Hundreds of ants having a worm dinner. As an artist, I am always finding beauty around me but rarely have the time to document it. Today, I could stop to take a photo. I am very grateful for this week to pause, reflect, and be inspired.
Tonight I attended an art opening. It was the appropriate ending to an extraordinary day. Seeing another gallery show makes me want to make more art and to find a place to put it so others can see it... Or maybe hear it too? In this photo I am listening to music created by converting wavelengths of Arctic audio files into numbers, then into text, then into vector lines that are engraved onto a record to be played. The artist is Marianna Williams. I know the concept sounds insane but it also SOUNDS AMAZING.
