12/9/10

Probably my final post before returning to the US.
My critique went over generally like I thought it would. They told me I have talent, talked about my previous experience, my attendence, etc etc. They told me I'm too heavy handed (which I am well aware of and I can't seem to break that habit). I found it a little funny how the pencil drawing that they said was my best one was the one I spent the least amount of time on and actually ended up using the comparison method instead of the sight-size method that they teach at FAA. Of course, I didn't tell them that.
Then one of the teachers told me that I was unfocused. She went on a little rant about how she doesn't think that I want to use what I've learned as just a hobby but she doesn't feel I have the drive to be professional. Well. Excuse me.
I know I've been slightly unfocused while here. Mainly because I've been doing all of this for the past 3 years. I didn't feel challenged and it was all pretty boring work for me. You can't get focused and stimulated by boring work that you've done hundreds of times before.
Anyway, a lot of the other students were saying the same thing. They would tell us things that they have been telling us all semester and things we already know and then complain a little about something in particular that most of us would not agree with.

Yesterday Lucas and I finished up shopping and just wandered around Florence. Today, I'm packing some more and doing the last of my laundry. There's a end of the term party that some restuarant is hosting for us not too far from the school tonight so Lucas and I are going to that. We invited some people over to the apartment after for drinks and the taking of our things that we don't need to bring back (extra food, toothpaste, etc etc). Then tomorrow is going to be full-on packing. I'm going to stop by the school to maybe work on my last bargue a little bit, grab the rest of my supplies there, and then talk with Rosemary (the registrar) about booking a cab for tomorrow morning to pick me up and take me to the airport.

I have so much to do between now and Saturday morning. Then when I get home it's not going to be a time to relax either. I have close to every day booked with things I need to do and plans until New Years. Then I have to start classes back at AAA.

Well, here's to the last post. Ciao, vediamo quando torno in America!

12/5/10

Last week!

I've kind of been jamming in last minute experiences this weekend and probably the rest of the week. I tried 'Mexican' food. It was good, but definitely not really Mexican food. Just an Italian immitation of it. [Vegetarian burrito pictured below]

I also went to a Chinese restaurant with some friends including one of the students who is Chinese, Nancy. She's a very interesting person and it was awesome to say the least to finally get to sit there and talk to her more one-on-one. She has a perfect American accent because her mom didn't want her to go through the local school system in China and she instead sent her to the American schools in China. It was fun to watch her try to teach John (from New York) how to speak some Chinese phrases.
Alora, the Chinese restaurant was probably the best Chinese food I've ever had. We also each got some fried ice cream for dessert (which is an American thing, but still something I've never tried before). It was delicious to say the least. Especially since it was gelato, not just ice cream.

They also have Christmas decorations up all over the city already. There's the HUGE Christmas tree in the Duomo area and lights on almost every street. It makes me happy that I'm going to be home for Christmas.

12/2/10

Again, sorry for the lack of updates. I've been in my own world lately.
A little over a week left and I will be back in the US. At least that's if I don't run into a snow storm. Apparently it started snowing back home, so there might be a chance that my flight will get re-directed if there is a snow storm. Here's to hoping there isn't one. I'd rather not prolong the travel time, especially since it's already going to be around 20 hours of travelling without any glitches.
I've done pretty decent progress on my 3rd Bargue and I'm actually pleased with how my charcoal drawing is turning out.
We have our final critiques next week as well. Mine is on Tuesday. They also wanted us to do a copy of a charcoal model line drawing and then 2-3 copies of Bargue line drawings. Then they also want us to mount all of our pencil drawings on drawing boards. I could understand if they gave all this to us about a month ago, but they can't seriously expect us to finish all that in less than two weeks. Plus the fact that there are no more drawing boards, so I have no idea where they think we're supposed to put our drawings.

Lucas's mom arrived last Friday. They left almost right after she got here to go to Rome and spent the weekend there. She's just been hanging out the apartment and randomly exploring the city since then. She's also been cooking us dinner. It's nice not to have to cook for myself. But at the same time, I've gotten so used to it that it's kinda weird to not cook all my own meals. Everyone back at the house will probably be very happy when I get back because the habit of cooking every meal will probably stay with me for a while.

I'll try for at least 2 more posts before next Saturday, but things will probably be getting a bit hectic this last week.