The Study and The Studio: May 2014

"The Study" half of us is now in the throws of 3rd semester of medical school here on our little island. He's knocking 'em out of the ballpark one by one. The recent blog-silence is due to finals, a wonderful break, and ramping up for the beginning of another semester. Now we're back and we can really shake it down (name that oldies song...).

We've found it a useful practice to set goals for the semesters; four month stints of working toward specific items. A great way to reach for the end of the semester with gusto, four months seems to be a manageable amount of time to accomplish some solid goals or steps towards larger ones. We write them down on our white boards so that they stare at us each day, willing us to go on. One of our goals this semester is "Thrive in calamity with peace."

This semester I've set out to be more active in creating. I posted last semester about the insecurity and impatience of trying to create while figuring out the basics of living. Now I feel a little like I've got a better handle on life here and want to use those hints of freedom to make things.

Here are some recent sketches and organic material paintings. The first two are Andy's birthday gift and card. Both are on pages from an old book on Neurology that the library was giving away. The pages I chose have to do with the part of the brain that enables you to see. (Mt. of the Holy Cross is a mountain in Colorado which holds a special place in Andy's life. The snow falls in the shape of a cross towards the peak of the mountain.)