Today, August 29th, was the day that class was supposed to start at my art school. (I assume that it has started even without me there!)  So today was the first day of my un-BFA.  My husband printed out an acceptance letter, some posters, and some stationary for me.  My friend Melanie is making me my own student ID, which was mentioned on the unCollege Facebook page.  

My warm-up today didn't go that well, as these things sometimes do.  It was for an art-journal house.  I think if this was the only project I was working on today, it would have worked, but I didn't have several hours to spend constructing that thing.  I am still a little iffy on what an art journal actually entails.  I am not sure how it is different from a sketchbook, and if it is like a "writing" journal, how to put my thoughts into a quick-ish composition.  Usually if I need to express myself visually, it turns into a major project.

I listened to a podcast from Maiwa Podcasts today.  Maiwa is a fiber arts institution in Vancouver, Canada, where I am from.  They have a import retail store, a supply store, and a yearly symposium.  The podcasts are from lectures from their symposiums.  The one I listened to today was a lecture from a fiber artist from Nigeria who now lives in Santa Fe.  He is unusual in his culture because usually women are fiber artists.  He has always been visual.  He uses traditional fermented indigo to dye, and uses tie-dye techniques, as well as batik. He uses a type of sago paste for resists.  His work is usually depictions from his life.  While I listened, I wove a twill pattern on my four-shaft table loom.  The repetitive nature of the weaving helped me pay attention to the lecture.

I went out to the park to do some drawing.  I sketched out a little scene with some rhododendron bushes and some trees.  I worked on the detail for a few of the bushes, but one bush in particular was especially crazy-making so I will go back to it tomorrow and continue to work on the scene.  I will post a photo of it when it is finished.

For my surface design assignment, I finished up a table runner for Melanie Wallace.  I can't reveal too much about that yet, because she hasn't seen it!  I can't wait to show it to her.

For my business study, I read and completed the exercises from the first chapter of The Boss of You.  I identified my business goals, defined my personal measure of success (which is not to become a Fortune 500 company), and identified my strengths and weaknesses.  So far, I love this book.  It's perfect for people like me, who just want a happy little business with a sustainable wage.  I'm super-pleased with it.

I did not work on design because I haven't got the book from the library yet.  I also didn't work on my personal project today, because I didn't have time and i did get the chance to work on Melanie's project and my weaving.  I might do a bit on knitting after dinner though.

I am working on my website right now (obvi) and hope to improve it more over the next few days.  It's still looking a little ghetto but at least it has content now.

I am very happy with my first day.  It's ended up being a nine-hour day, which is remarkable for me.  I have a disability and usually have to work part time, but I have so much energy right now.  I haven't had a full day's work in a long, long time.  I am not sure how long it will be once I have my warm up, design, and personal projects elements tied in.  It might end up being quite a bit longer.  I will have to see if I need to adjust the schedule, or if I will just work longer.

Happy first day of unCollege for me!
9/9/2011 10:10:40 am

What a great way to keep focused while not going to school! Keep it up!

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