When I was first considering this trip, I was going to go The Prague Quadrennial in June to see the exhibits, meet other people in theater and experience the city and then bum around Europe, I guess. Because, why not? Then two things happened: I was offered a summer job as Costume Designer/Coordinator at Brevard Music Center and attended the U/RTAs, preliminary interviews for graduate school. I realized that I wasn't quite ready for grad school and that if I wanted to have more of a "choice" of where to attend school, I'd have to work on some things, primarily my drawing. The job was also something I didn't think I could turn down; it was a great opportunity. So I enrolled in a drawing class while in New Haven and, when June came around, went down to North Carolina. The thought of Europe, and even what to do in the fall, was put off. A little fear and denial, I suppose.
I started thinking about it again when I asked Jane Greenwood what I should go with my life after Long Wharf and she said, "Go to Europe for a while and draw a lot and buy a new wardrobe!"
I was at someone's house for dinner while I was at Brevard and he had tons of books about Paris. People were looking at them and I blurted out that I was thinking of going to Paris in the fall. I had thought about it and maybe mentioned it to some people before but I figured, if I spoke about going to Paris, I'd have to hold myself it. Immediately, Brad, Jo and Daniel said they were coming for New Years so now I definitely had to act on it.
So now I am here, but now with a purpose. I am taking four classes: a French class at the Alliance Française, and three classes at Parsons-Paris. (It was featured on the last season of Project Runway and, I hope, maybe this season, too!?!? Cross your fingers!) The French class I realized is a necessary evil (I haven't spoken French in 5 years), that really is not as evil as I remember it being in high school. I had to take a placement test and at the end of it, I was pretty proud of myself but the person who corrected it just gave me this smile that seemed to say, "poor, silly girl, but you'll do great!"
The teacher speaks ridiculously quickly but I think, in the end, it will be a good thing. I don't speak particularly quickly and the teacher always gives me funny looks, tilts her head to the side and squints when she tries to understand what I am saying. We work from the same sort of workbooks that you would have in high school and use the same sort of themes- What do you like to go on vacation? What are the different parts of a newspaper? The people in the class are amazing- there are people from Peru, Boliva, Spain, Hungary, Madagascar, Angola and Turkey and we all stumble through it together. It's interesting to hear people speak French with different accents. The class gets a little easier everyday and I hope it will make a difference.
At Parsons I am taking Fashion Illustration, Figure Painting and Textile Design. The Fashion Illustration is interesting because I have rarely drawn real life models wearing clothes, usually it's been from a picture, but I think it's going to be really good for me. At the first Figure Painting class we drew from a nude model and the teacher wanted us to use all these techniques my last figure drawing teacher hated, so it was a bit of a struggle. Because of the strike, my Textile Design class was canceled but that just leaves something to look forward to next week!
I started thinking about it again when I asked Jane Greenwood what I should go with my life after Long Wharf and she said, "Go to Europe for a while and draw a lot and buy a new wardrobe!"
I was at someone's house for dinner while I was at Brevard and he had tons of books about Paris. People were looking at them and I blurted out that I was thinking of going to Paris in the fall. I had thought about it and maybe mentioned it to some people before but I figured, if I spoke about going to Paris, I'd have to hold myself it. Immediately, Brad, Jo and Daniel said they were coming for New Years so now I definitely had to act on it.
So now I am here, but now with a purpose. I am taking four classes: a French class at the Alliance Française, and three classes at Parsons-Paris. (It was featured on the last season of Project Runway and, I hope, maybe this season, too!?!? Cross your fingers!) The French class I realized is a necessary evil (I haven't spoken French in 5 years), that really is not as evil as I remember it being in high school. I had to take a placement test and at the end of it, I was pretty proud of myself but the person who corrected it just gave me this smile that seemed to say, "poor, silly girl, but you'll do great!"
The teacher speaks ridiculously quickly but I think, in the end, it will be a good thing. I don't speak particularly quickly and the teacher always gives me funny looks, tilts her head to the side and squints when she tries to understand what I am saying. We work from the same sort of workbooks that you would have in high school and use the same sort of themes- What do you like to go on vacation? What are the different parts of a newspaper? The people in the class are amazing- there are people from Peru, Boliva, Spain, Hungary, Madagascar, Angola and Turkey and we all stumble through it together. It's interesting to hear people speak French with different accents. The class gets a little easier everyday and I hope it will make a difference.
At Parsons I am taking Fashion Illustration, Figure Painting and Textile Design. The Fashion Illustration is interesting because I have rarely drawn real life models wearing clothes, usually it's been from a picture, but I think it's going to be really good for me. At the first Figure Painting class we drew from a nude model and the teacher wanted us to use all these techniques my last figure drawing teacher hated, so it was a bit of a struggle. Because of the strike, my Textile Design class was canceled but that just leaves something to look forward to next week!
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