It is that time of year again when the student and teacher in me wrestles with time. Could it be that summer is really almost over? Am I ready for the next season, did I make the best use of my time, did I do the required reading?
When I started Fabulon, that first summer was consumed by zoning permits and redecorating the space, setting up events and planning for the future while the actual here and now days were fleeting. I created a show called Souvenirs of Summer; you know those talismans we collect to hang on to something that is transient. We always had a great turn out and provocative art evident that my melancholy was universal.
On the flip side, the start of the school year also brings a fresh slate. Teacher calendars and planners don’t run January to December like the rest of the world. Even though I am not in school or teaching now, I still use this method of planning and try to cultivate that sense of newness and possibility. It sure does help to pull me out of the end of summer blues.
So even though August is just starting, I am planning, regrouping, future casting. I have been invited to attend an artist’s retreat at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Cloistered away by the sea in late September. How perfect. Then after, I will be staying on for a bonus session, Writing About Art. Like our planners, the artists’ idea of a vacation is very different from the rest of the world, too.