2-Dimensional Design

I have to begin with a confession. 25 years ago I took a 2-dimensional design class and I never turned in the final project. Planning for my up coming marriage were on the for front of my life and I blew it off. This class is an absolute necessity for any kind of a degree in art so here I am taking it once again but now instead of pulling out my paint brushes and drawing pencils I walked into a computer lab for my class. The idea of a completely digital class was terrifying to me. How could I ever keep up with all the kids who knew computers and the programs we would be using so much better than I did?  And how would I ever remember everything the teacher was showing us how to do?

This week, I am feeling really good about my art class. I remember some of the basic principles of design and I still have a good eye for it. With the help of some younger class mates, I am learning how to get the programs to do what I want them to and it is very exciting to go to class. I got my second grade in that class today and it was 100%. It sounds more thrilling that it is. He grades the projects on a 1-4 point scale so the only A you can get is a 4 or a 100%. I was thrilled however because now I feel like I can really be successful in this class. The second thing I am finding is that I am learning what the teacher likes and dislikes and that is the secret to the subjective part of the art grade.

 Art is not like math there can be many right answers and many wrong answers and half of the equation is in the instructor's opinion. I have met several very talented people who have dropped out of art programs because they had trouble dealing with other people's opinions. Either they couldn't handle the criticisms to their work because it felt like a personal attack or they had difficulty trying to figure out what the professor wanted and then giving it to him. You have to be willing to learn something new and different to be able to improve. You also have to understand that sometime you will not do well and that's O.K. and a critique of your work is not a critique of you as a person. Finally you don't have to love everything you produce it's alright to hate it to get the you just have to be willing to learn and grow. In whatever field an artist goes into they have to please someone or they will not make any money. There is always a boss, whether it is a client commissioning a graphic design piece, or a consumer buying a framed piece to put over the mantel.

Jordyn

Last week my kids were sick so the little girl I provide daycare for wasn't able to come. My little ones and I missed her. I have been watching her since she was 1 year old. Last week she had her 6th birthday. This will be my last year for her to come; she starts 1st grade and full time school in the fall. I will miss her just like I miss her older brother who stopped coming several years ago.

I used to do daycare as a way of earning needed extra money but as my family grew, life became more hectic and the need for that money diminished, I quit and I didn't regret it for one moment. I was happy to spend my undivided time on my own children. Then one day I got a call from the wife of the choir director at my kids' high school. Her husband had been trying to watch their two youngest at school while she went to work and it wasn't a good situation. She had no idea where to take the kids. He told her "Call Mrs. Thomas, I know her kids and I trust her." I had to think about it. Did I want to? I liked the family. I knew we had shared values so I wouldn't be dealing with children who were being raised very differently than my own that was very important. A little extra money never hurt. They would only be here a few mornings a week, it could work. For me, the most compelling reasons were that I appreciated what Mr. Richard had been doing for my children and if I were in their situation I would want my children to be with someone I trusted to care for them well.

I remember rocking this little girl to sleep and wiping her nose. She has told me her stories and asked me endless questions. We read books, paint pictures and sometimes we tap dance. I have had two more of my own babies since she has come to our home. In some ways she feels more like a niece or some other member of my extended family growing up with my own children.

Jordyn has been a blessing for our family. I feel a little guilty about taking money from her parents. She plays so well with the kids that I can actually get some work done. I never would have imagined that anyone could turn little boys wielding toy light sabers into playing house. She gets them all dressed up in their "Jedi outfits", they go out and fight the robots and then she calls them "home" to eat lunch. Whatever they play, she keeps them too busy to even think about begging me to watch television. What could be better than that? Sometimes the best blessing show up on your doorstep when you didn't even know you needed them.

Tap Dancing

Several years ago I was Goodwill Shopping and I spotted a pair of tap shoes. They looked about the right size so I tried them on. They fit! I bought them thinking that one day I would take a class. It was a more of a goal than a thought, I just had to figure out how to find the time and the money to do it.

 I had learned a little tap in High School more than 25 years ago. I hated PE class but it was mandatory. After suffering through my Sophomore and the beginning of my Junior year in PE we moved to Arizona. All of a sudden there was a choice to take Dance instead. That sounded so much better and it was. We learned one style of dance each quarter: Jazz, Tap, Ballet and Modern. I was actually good at dance. The tap section only lasted one quarter and we didn't even use tap shoes so it was more like soft shoe but I wanted to learn more. So here I was, years later, with a pair of shoes and a desire.

I started looking for classes and comparing prices. The Parks and Rec. Dance program was the most affordable and convenient but they met on Monday night which was an impossibility for me. Soon after I became pregnant and that didn't seem a good time to begin. After the baby was born I started looking again. This time my husband was so very supportive that he signed me up and I was ready to begin.

 Life and goals seldom play out just as we expect and sure enough something happened. I went ice skating with the girls from church and fell and broke my arm. The first thing I asked my Doctor was if I could dance and the answer was "NO". I had to drop the class before I had even begun and start going to physical therapy instead. We have all heard stories about physical therapy, stories about how the therapists are mean and the exercises hurt but what I experienced was very different. I saw people come in moaning and complaining. People who had to be pushed to work and therapist who were very kind but had work to do. I wanted to get better-fast. It didn't matter if it was uncomfortable, after all I'd been through real pain. I could take it. If the therapist gave me 5 minutes on the arm bike I asked if I could do more. I went home and exercised everyday and I made wonderful progress in 4 weeks I had almost full use of my arm back and 2 weeks later I got the OK to start dance class.

This week is the one year anniversary of my starting tap class. When I began last year I didn't realize that I had come into a class that had started 6 months before. They had been working together on steps and choreography and here I was trying to catch up. The instructor, Minda, was wonderful. She was encouraging and helpful and would challenge each of us at our own level. I had heard about muscle memory before but I had never really experience it. Everything I had learned years ago was locked up in my body somewhere and it took very little for it all to come pouring out. My challenge was to learn the choreography for the dance recital in June. I practice every chance I got and learned more than I ever thought I could. When June came I was ready. My husband and all 12 children came to the recital (that cost a small fortune) and I was able to get up there and do my part. The best part was when my daughter said, "Mom, you didn't miss a step!"

I still love tap. Each week I walk out with something new to work on. I practice all week and feel great when I can walk back in and show what I have learned. One step in particular took me 3 months to master. What a lesson in perseverance. This last January I was supposed to move up to the intermediate class but once again it meets on Monday. I have stayed in the Beginning class but Minda has me come early each week and she teaches me the dance so I can perform with the other class in the recital in June. Then during class she gives me more difficult variations on the steps she is teaching to the others. I miss being with some of the other women I danced with last year but this is a good fit for my life. Sometimes, I am tempted to quit. My Dad thinks I'm silly. My life is hectic and I feel a little guilty about spending the money but I justify it as a good form of exercise but the greatest benefit to me and my family is that I feel happy when I tap. I have tapped away stress and grief and each week I see that I can do more than I thought I could.

My Juggling Act

Roy got his yearly Social Security report and he looked to see how much money I would get if he were to pass away. It freaked him out that I couldn't support the family on what I would get even with the house being paid off. He started to question my choice of a degree which got me questioning my choice so
I went back to look at elementary ed. and that freaked me out. If I switched I would have only a handful of classes that would count instead of being halfway through my Associates Degree. Then again when I get farther into my degree I will be taking even more studio classes that take double the class time plus homework so that maybe it would all come out even as far as time was concerned. I was starting to panic. If I was going to change I need to do it after this semester and not waste any more time.

 It hasn't helped that I had been worrying because I wasn't enjoying my 2-D design class. It is so different from anything I have ever done in the way of art before. I have always been a paintbrush, pencil, and pen artist and here I was in a classroom where the only other person my age is the professor and they are all so familiar with the computers and programs. I was very confused so I decided to fast, ponder and pray about it Sunday. The confusion left but I didn't feel real sure about my path until Monday afternoon. I was sitting in 2-D design class and it just felt right. I presented my project and I may not have gotten an A but I am sure of a B. I didn't use some of the tools the other students had (we hadn't been taught yet) but we weren't being graded on anything we didn't know. For the first time I walked out of class feeling good not overwhelmed.

Now that I am comfortable with my degree, again, I am focusing on doing the work. I don't know how I am going to get my assignments done this week. The problem is my Comp. class. We are supposed to go to the library this week and find sources for our paper. I don't know how to get there. There is a reason I am taking an on-line class. How do you take a 1,3 and 5 year old to the library and get anything done? Monday I have class, Tuesday I have Audrey to babysit for me maybe I can sneak out for a while in the afternoon but not for long Tyler's All-State concert is in the evening at the Convention Center. Wednesday I watch Jordyn in the morning and have class in the afternoon and in the evening we are going to the temple. Thursday Audrey is around again but she will be watching kids while I take Peter to his first Dentist appointment and then again in the afternoon when I take Melissa and Blake to  the dentist. Thursday evening is the normal craziness with tap class, scouts, working on the girls fundraiser for camp and activity days for Emma. Friday the library is closed and Saturday I need to delivery the candy baskets for the fund raiser and the dance is in the evening. How do I leave the kids for the afternoon as well? This is a very bad week for this assignment. I need to get out and take pictures for the art class but that is not a problem with kids in tow. My plan has been to get my work done by Friday afternoon so that my schooling is not interfering with family time. This definitely going to challenge my juggling skills.

I was talking to Sarah today and she said that her professors at BYU love Google Scholar and encourage them to use it. I think it's interesting that I'm not to use it for my class. I have used it before and found plenty of free info. Ryan turned me on to it.

Ryan just got home from his morning classes and he said the roads were terrible. He nearly got into 3 accidents on the way to school and 2 on the way home. His car is stuck two houses down he couldn't get all the way up the street even with new tires on his car. I'm not going anywhere today until I go with Roy and Neal to the concert. I don't even dare take the van in these conditions, if I get stuck, which has happened before, there is no way to push a 15 passenger van out.

I have gotten my first few grades from my comp. class and those have me feeling good. I will feel even better when I see a good grade on a real assignment and not just on a discussion. I didn't used to care so much about grades. I'm not sure why. Am I trying to prove something to myself, my husband, my kids or my Dad or is it that I just like the feeling of really doing well? Maybe I've just listen to myself lecture my kids about grades for so long I better walk the walk.

Reading

The chapter I just read in my text book got me thinking about reading. I love to read I always have. I remember being in first grade when the teacher asked me to read out loud for the principle. After he told me what a wonderful job I had done, I remember thinking how foolish it was to be complimented on doing something so simple. He might as well gush over how I was able to walk across the floor without falling down. I had no idea that reading didn't come as easily for everyone.

When I wanted to know how to decipher the pig Latin my parents spoke when they wanted to keep me in the dark, I went to the school library. When I wanted the truth about the birds and the bees, I went to the public library. It was all there, anything I wanted to learn about from armadillos to zits. In sixth grade I discovered biographies. There are so many fascinating people who have lived on this earth that I will never have the chance to meet but I could get still get to know them. That was the nonfiction section then there was the fiction.  Made up worlds, interesting people, mysteries anything anyone could imagine and I could go there anytime. We didn't have a television during my teen years yet I was never bored. I had access to the whole world and beyond.

Every birthday and Christmas I received books from my step grandfather. He managed a book store and was gifted at finding the right book to interest and challenge me. I was able to work for him one summer. It was a huge challenge to save my money and not spend it decreasing the inventory.

Now I surround myself with books. Every room in my house, excluding the bathrooms, has a bookshelf over flowing with books. I have discovered the joys of thrift stores where I can indulge without too much guilt. With readers of every age in my house the collection covers everything from board books to "War and Peace". I wish I could say I've read them all but it's not true, there isn't enough time in a day, week, month or year. One day I will get to them all but when I'm working on my schooling the text books have to come first and that's OK. I am content with the knowledge I am gaining there.

One of the questions in the text talked about the kind of genres I read. I think I've tried them all and found I have a taste for most of them. Some are too rich for everyday, some are full of empty calories but they are fine in small doses. Others are wholesome and satisfying for mind and soul and you feel you have grown when you are finished. Just like trying new foods trying a new genre can be fun and exciting and you won't know if you like it until you try it.