ART ART ART!! YOM YOM ART NOM TASTY ART MEATS OM NOM NOM NOM COOKIE MONSTER LOVE ARTWINE GOES WITH TASTY ART NOM!!!!

No I is not kidding, see??

Cloisonne Brooches by Linda Darty; enamel on fine silver.

I have a new hero. Linkiepoo!! (scroll down a little, the bit about “Closing Reception,” “Master Artist workshop” and “Artist Lecture”)

Marathon day week… culminating in TEH MASTER WORKSHOP OF AWESOMENESS… very very productive week followed by ZOMG amazing day one of class, I can haz shiney? oyes I can haz…

I nearly skipped her lecture (having already read much of her [widely acclaimed] book and spent the entire day with her) but holy cats, very glad that I went. Linda Darty is the teacher I wish I had had. She showed slides of her life, her work, and THEN, her students. She talked about her students’ work with such pride. She addressed the Seattle metals community with the pride of a mom. She has the ability to foster the creativity of others — because it didn’t come naturally to her, she had to learn how to find it, and now she is passing that on — and she loves her students and what they can do. She is totally invested in their success. She is an artist, but moreso, a researcher and an educator. She so obviously loves this field and thinks it is so cool, and thinks what her students can do is so amazing. How can you not be inspired by someone like that?

And to top it all off: she’s now running a study abroad program to Italy, because that’s where her journey started. She’s done a mini-mester for some time, and she’s kicking off a full semester in Feb 2011. (Hearing her talk about it: she is so excited and so proud of this.) I so want to go.

On Wednesday, at a different art workshop, the presenter mentioned yet again the importance of looking at your goals. The eternal Where Do You Want To Be In Five Years, or more. As a mental exercise I though of who in my field I wanted to be “someday”.

I thought to myself: maybe Linda Darty? No question any more. THAT is what you can do in this field. I don’t think it has made her rich – and who cares, she certainly doesn’t. She spends her summers working in her studio, the rest of the year teaching, and she still manages to be a globetrotting superstar.

At the reception, I spent more time rubbing elbows with the Seattle metals community — always good. Got more positive feedback on my lecture from last month. The upcoming national conference in Houston. My amazement/fear/awe at my impending portfolio review. Geeking out on metalsmithing. Geeking out on art nouveau. The 2011 national conference that WE THE SEATTLE PEEPS are hosting. What my role in that could/should/might be. And OH HAY LOOKIT THE PRETTY!

*blissful sigh*

Tomorrow is an early morning, for there is more arting to do.