Congratulations

At home, while the kittens are at school, I work in the studio with minimal interruptions. I think of it as quiet time. It's only when I get away that I realize that at home when it's quiet, there is still a lot of noise. Like unwanted color speckles in a photograph, it's hard to filter out the extra sounds, the extra everything. Some might not consider New Orleans during the French Quarter Festival, where there is a band playing about every ten feet (or maybe five), to be a quiet place. Somehow though, it was. That quiet allowed me to sift through my ideas for paintings. I forget how important it is to give ideas room to flow, instead of trying to lasso and control them.
At the last minute I bought a ticket and followed Dan Barney to a conference. I even crashed a couple of presentations. Oh Dr. Barney! Art Teacher of the Year for the WHOLE Western Region! He looked so respectable and wise in his slick suit, discussing important theory with his colleagues.
I'm so glad I mentioned his award in the 'good news minute' because Laural Bean, who bakes love into everything, brought Dan a cake! Lucky! It's good to get away but it's even better to be home.