Nantucket Adventure: Final Thoughts

Brant Point Lighthouse taken from the ferry home

I have absolutely no regrets.
I realize that people travel and do these kinds of things all the time. But as I have been focusing on my career and education over the last five years, traveling was just an idea. I was fortunate enough to travel to Spain twice as a teenager and cruise to the U.S. Virgin Islands in my early twenties. As a senior in college, two other art education majors and I also took a cruise to Mexico. That was probably one of the most adventurous things I had done on my own up to that point. But like other American college kids, the spring break trip was like a rite of passage. There was hardly any academic educational enrichment happening. Not like the last two weeks.

Painting on Nantucket was an amazing opportunity.
For one, I was able to focus for two whole weeks, on creating. I didn't have to worry about shoving all the supplies back into corners and cubby holes when I was done. There was space.
There was also time. At least four hours a day was dedicated to sketching and painting.
I have said it before and I will say it again, now that my Master's program is over, there has to be time made to stay in practice. And, I can make the space.
My easel from Jerry's Artarama was shipped yesterday!

The amount of time on the island also provided us with the opportunity to understand the culture of Nantucket and to appreciate a group of new people. All of the field trips and lectures gave us a historical and scientific understanding of the island. Adventuring down town, in addition to driving around the island, taking in the real estate, gave us an idea of the people there now. We were immersed in a culture that is still American, but for the most part, different from the cultures we had all grown up and gone to school in.
Being in a group setting for the better part of the day, also allowed us to learn from and about each other. I was so focused on learning how to paint, that it wasn't until I got home a couple of days ago, that I realized just how much I learned from my classmates. We were all there to paint, but in our free time we talked about books, music, movies, artists, you name it. And those discussions were like a breath of fresh air. I really hope that in the fall we can reunite and show our work at the school library.

courtesy of Mickey W.
our professor is on the left, I am on the right and the gentleman next to me was our tour guide of the wildlife refuge, Barry

 

So no regrets. I am elated that I had the opportunity and the means to have the experience of living and creating on Nantucket for two weeks. Where can I go next summer?