Another Quarter Ends

Another quarter ended this week at the Art Institute of Seattle and with it went many joyous young grads full of hope for the next phase of their lives. As I went from portfolio to portfolio I couldn't help but notice evidence of what was taught in my classes. I am grateful that I was effective in getting the skills across. Clearly teaching is gratifying.

For me last week brought to a close a longer then usual teaching year, sadly marked by the passing of one of our beloved photography faculty members to cancer. It is time for me to take a break... I need to reflect on all that has passed and to see the result of my labors.

Aside from my teaching I have done some good paintings and taken many wonderful photographs, I finished one new marble sculpture torso and almost another. In my younger days this would be insufficient creative work but now at 63, I am glad to have new images reveal themselves in oils, stone forms come to life no matter how few and an opportunity to use new digital technology to capture and process images of light.

This week we are packing our bags, my wife and I are leaving on a cruse to and through the Panama Canal. I am excited to be going to such a tropical and exotic place for the first time and am glad that I will have a chance to rest and renew myself over the holiday and through the New Year. The sun will be a warm relief from the dark of the Seattle winter.

We all need a break from time to time and because of our commitments, dedications and financial limitations we often put it off, thinking that someday all the parts will fall in place and we will suddenly be free to do just what we want. Time passes... we get old and things often don't go as we plan. Mortality is something that is so abstract in youth, ignored in mid-life and only because it forces itself upon us in our golden years do we confront it.

Today I feel like I am winning the bet I made with myself about travel before I get too old or too tired.
I hope this year was good for you, that you achieved some small part of your dream and that you are well and happy. Happy holidays!