missing clay

Oh my! August has been the craziest month.  I’ve come to the realization that August is the end of everything and the beginning of everything else.

August signals the coming end of summer; an end to the routine-free days of fun for the kids.  Yet, a day without routine affects all else – meals, laundry, work, cleaning, sleep, and motivation.

So as August ends, the rest begins.  School starts and throws the kids into a pattern of sleep, eat, class, practice, study, sleep….  Scheduling, planning, consistency in a day/week are helpful – even welcome to me.

As the month began, I started gearing up for a teaching position.  After a three year absence, I am back in the classroom.  I was ready to return.

However, it became immediately obvious how three years can change the mechanics of instruction.  In reality, I haven’t taught this particular course since the late 90’s.  Any idea of the monumental leaps and bounds in which technology has changed the classroom (a show of hands) in three years?  Ten years?

I still had support materials for the course but in an obsolete format (yep, slides).  Even my lecture materials were on a ‘read only’ file.  It’s been/will continue to be a lot of work to stay ahead of the curve until I get updated, upgraded, and uploaded.

The conversion of my course materials has thrown my studio schedule into nearly nonexistent.  Though I haven’t completely neglected my artwork the same may not be said of properly cleaning the house.  I’ve been missing clay the past couple weeks.

While I haven’t had the opportunity to play in the mud lately, I have been drawing.  Drawings always lead to clay – at least in my world.

As scheduled, clay and I will begin again on Monday.