Where I left it

   So far today, I've had two painting sessions, and I don't seem to be able to leave the faces alone. Through the course of the first session, every one of the mother's features were obliterated and re-painted. I still see some things to fix before I can bring the values up. But it's closer. And I think I'm going to make the shirt yellow-ish instead of pink. So it can be gender neutral.

    Sometimes I am really grateful for the peace of my studio and the work I can do there. It is a big stress reliever to journey inward and paint. 

   Right now, I need it, because my university, where I am scheduled to teach four face to face classes in the fall at full capacity, has chosen to not require vaccines, have a mask mandate or social distancing. My students, unless something changes, will be sitting elbow to elbow for an hour and 50 minutes, twice a week. 

    I was so proud of how Ferris handled the pandemic last year, and I felt lucky because they worked hard to keep us safe. I don't know where that leadership has gone. I hope that my fellow faculty members and our student parents will speak up and demand safety for us all. Otherwise, this is going to be a rough semester.

 

Teaching in the Time of Covid-19

   One would think that during isolation, there would be a lot of time to be alone with your thoughts. But, nope. For over a week, I've been racing to get three classes up and running online, plus keep the fourth one on track. Several of my students are struggling because they have difficulty accessing wifi from their homes, or because they have no idea how to participate in an online course. But mostly, they have been champs. So many of them have written to say they understand the complexity of the job right now. And they are making work that I am sorry I am missing seeing for real.
    So, besides grading my brains out, I've been busy redesigning the rest of the semester so that it is manageable for all of us. I'm about half-way there. I'm trying to go for the least complicated options. Which means I'm still probably over-doing it, because complicated is my middle name.
    Once this is under control, I'm hoping I can be alone with my thoughts again. Because that's when the painting happens. We'll get there.

The Covid-19 Cancellation Monster

    Well, Covid-19 changed a few things around here, starting with the focus of the Tubman project. There were supposed to be two performances of the choral work this weekend, both of which were cancelled. The music is very beautiful and complex. I don't remember if I posted a link to a recording of it, so here it is: http://www.pavanepublishing.com/sounds/P8011.mp3

  Those dates were also going to feature ten of the silhouette images that my classes created with Harriet Tubman's life and journey as the subject. We were all ready to go! It's not a real loss, because we all learned a lot in the process, and the work will be shown next fall, both in town and in our university gallery. Still, it's a little disappointing.

 The silver lining is that I feel really lucky to have been a part of this group and to get to learn and sing this with an amazing conductor. Maybe when this all blows over, we can perform it. Here are two more images from the set: