October 8, 2015

8.30 am. Off the School to begin the first second-year painting session of the year. The studio awaits:

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I haven’t taught painting in the School’s main studios in a long while. It was good to be back. The tutorial conversations were intelligent and passionate. But there needs to be a greater sense of community imperative within the studio. This can be only nurtured, rather than either prescribed or dictated. Some absentees. They’ll be pursued for their own good. Later in the morning, more students turned up, and a buzz emerged in the room. Apparently, an Art Society pub crawl last night had put pay to early rising, and any rising at all in some cases.

I’m intrigued:

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2.00 pm. Following lunch, I had one further second year tutorial before shifting venues to the glorious Old College to engage my third year painters:

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Some principles and observations from today’s encounters:

  • We can all be equal in our measure of commitment to the subject and capacity for hard work.
  • Trust that you are capable of extraordinary things. Sometimes you must have a faith in your potential that flies in the face of past achievement and your own and others’ the low expectations.
  • Don’t anticipate the outcome of an artwork at its inception. (Destroy preconceptions with the passion of an iconoclast.) Let the idea determine the process determine the evolution determine the outcome of the work.
  • A direct correlation can be drawn between attendance and attainment.
  • You do not know what you’re capable of; but, then again, neither do I.

4.00 pm. Back to School to update admin and prepare for the 5.10 pm lecture. The low, saturating light of Autumn against an unsettled sky draws forth the town’s sense of place:

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I was on my knees by the end of the day, with the prospect a full-evening of work ahead.

7.30 pm. I dealt with publisher’s correspondence, Blackboard uploads, registers, absenteeism, and personal tutee lists. A myriad of small tasks robs us of ‘quality time’ as effectively as sluggardliness. 9.30 pm. Done in!

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