Monday: This Monday was the first time that I was reasonably well-rested at the beginning of the week, which was nothing short of amazing.
We spent a fair amount of time going over our websites in Output (the final sites are due on December fifth). We also talked about the next assignment, calibrating a printer, which won't be due until a week from Monday, and shouldn't be too hard.
Although I'd started a drawing for my Drawing class (theme: surreal), when I read the handout that the class got that evening, I realized that I'd have to start over. Thankfully, Plainfield paper is just over 30¢, including tax. I wish the photo paper that I use in the darkroom was that cheap...
Tuesday: For Preparing for Professional Life, we're to find a mentor, and talk/email/go out for coffee with them a couple times a month throughout the course. My choice was a family friend and fellow artist: Helen Opie. I almost mentioned this last week, but because Helen reads this blog, I wanted to keep it on the down-low until I'd contacted her. I called Helen on Tuesday afternoon, and asked her--she said yes. And because we're friends, the conversation drifted from mentors to NSCAD (Helen lives in Nova Scotia) to the difficulties of making it as an artist--especially as a female artist.
Wednesday: Due to the fact that many of us were headed home for Thanksgiving, and wouldn't be able to do lighting homework that required a studio and flash units, umbrellas/softboxes/grids, etc., for several days, Drew decided to do a class on posing. We were to pick a bunch of poses from books that he handed out, and when we went down to the studio, we chose one of our poses (each classmate labelled the poses that he/she chose with their name), and directed Drew into that pose. Funfunfun!
That evening, there was a show opening at the City Hall Gallery, but I didn't go. Jeff Crawford (the technician for the Photo Studio, and a graduate of NBCCD) had submitted a piece, but due to a so-called "ghost" policy that the gallery has, the photo was censored. The policy in question concerns depictions of nudity in art--but you won't ever see it in print, hence it being a "ghost" policy. And that bugs me even more than censorship (if that's possible). If a gallery (not just the one in City Hall) doesn't want to display a certain kind of art, they should make that absolutely clear.
Click here to see the offending photo. And just so you know, there's nothing really shocking--Jeff's work is always very tasteful.
Thursday: Brace yourself. This week was the first time that I had actual prints to show for my project, so Peter and my fellow classmates critiqued them. In addition to 8" x 10" prints, I'd also taped thumbnails that I'd cut out of the contact sheets to a piece of paper that I'd torn from my notebook, showing which photos I'd like to pair together.
In our meeting that afternoon, Peter had some rather harsh words for me: this coming Thursday, I'm not to show my face in class. I'm to crank out the prints in the darkroom instead. And I'm going to have to work my butt off if my project is to succeed.
...which makes me very disappointed in myself: I can do a thousand times better than this. Although I'm responsible for getting myself into this mess, I still can't believe it's come to this. This is not FVA, which I finished with a 2.43 GPA (pass is 2.0, by the way). I can do better. MUCH better.
After class, Mom picked me up in the studio, and we drove to the residence, grabbed my bags, and drove home for the weekend.
Friday and Saturday: I've spent the weekend hanging out with my parents, doing homework, watching movies, dancing, staying up late, sleeping in...
Next Saturday is the simulcast of Anna Bolena! After working my butt off in the darkroom forty-eight hours prior, I'll need it. Once again, thank you, Metropolitan Opera, for being an important part of my life. GO FRENCH HORNS!
And now, the annual Thanksgiving List:
- NBCCD--especially the Photo Studio
- Teachers who give you a good, solid wake-up call when needed (yes, Peter, I'm talking about you)
- Occupy Wall St., and similar protests around the world, like Occupy Fredericton
- Indescribably beautiful music
- Art that twists my brain and makes me say or think, "whoa!" (that one's for you, Adam)
- The fact that I voted NDP in a federal election during Jack Layton's lifetime
- The NDP Opposition--finally: a party that will hold Harper accountable for his actions, like it or not
- The fact that I'm finally interested in politics (thanks, NDP)
- My love of writing
- The Metropolitan Opera and the MOO (especially their horn section)
- ...and the Saturday matinées (less than two months to go!)
- Twelve years of getting excited about the latest Harry Potter book or movie
- My home and family
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