in less than 24 hours

last thursday angela bubash and i drove to rock hill, sc to lecture and lead a critique at winthrop university. the lectures went really well. i was nervous as per usual, but also as per usual i was prepared and being prepared always helps me to battle the nerves. i had written brief notes on 3 x 5 cards, but only used them for the first few minutes. i would talk about a few images, realize i wasn't using the cards, and then pause to advance in the deck. this was a bit awkward so i took a leap and put them aside. i remembered most everything i wanted to say and, although the nerves lingered, it felt natural to talk. all in all, for the little experience i have speaking about my work in this way, i think it went really well with room for improvement. angela's talk was great. i've heard her speak before as a penland resident, but those presentations are only 5 minutes long. this was the extended version and i loved hearing more information and details. i think our talks complemented each other nicely - our work is quite different, but we are interested in similar things.

the next day we lead a critique for a group of senior art students whose bfa exhibition opened that day. we met at 11am and talked about each students' work, ranging from painting and sculpture to jewelry and ceramics. i was impressed with the work. the ideas were thoughtful and well-executed.

other highlights from the quick trip include spending time with courtney starrett and michael gayk - after the lecture we made a fire and sat outside chatting and eating pizza at their house - and earlier in the day we visited gallery up and checked out a local patrick dougherty installation.

thanks for reading.