Schools out for summer! (But not for me!)

While most are out of school for the summer, I'm excited to be going back! I'm taking 2 art classes this summer at UVU. It's through their continuing education program, so most of the people there are older and really weird. But that's ok!

Maybe I should preface by saying I already have a degree, a fine arts degree, actually. I haven't done much with it since graduation. Why? I have a long list of excuses. I mean, having a 2 year old definitely eats up most of my time. Plus I have a husband in school and working full time - so there isn't a lot of me time, without Aimee at my side. I'm not even going to attempt to bust out the watercolors when she's awake. That would be a disaster.

So what about the fews years in between college and having a baby? Again, I don't have a good excuse. I think I just got burnt out. There was a time when I would sit with a stack of papers in my lap and I would draw the day away. I don't know what happened to that girl. Somewhere in college it kind of left me. I remember feeling so discouraged about lacking inspiration for a project once. I went to my professor, in tears, and told him how drawing just wasn't fun for me anymore. He was very zen about the whole thing and told me that I needed reach down and find that joy again. Well 5 years later, it seems to hit me in little spurts. I start fun little projects all the time and they never really get past the planning phase. A cousin of mine had this as her facebook status a while ago:

The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt.

That's really it. It's so easy to doubt yourself and your abilities. When I got the brochure in the mail listing the classes they offered at UVU this summer, I immediately scanned the art classes. There was a digital photography class and an oil painting class. I told Greg that I might want to do them, he was all for it. "You really should do it."
But I let that brochure sit on the computer desk for a few more weeks. I almost didn't register for the oil painting class. When I finally went online to register, I became nervous about it! It was the weirdest thing. I started to make excuses, when none needed to be made. But I did it, I registered. And I'm so glad I did!

I had my first class last night. I really didn't know what to expect. Our teacher brought in a model to paint for the next 8 classes. Painting the human figure is really challenging. (Believe me, I took that class before - many an all-nighter was pulled for that class!) But I'm happy about it - it feels good to flex those art muscles again.

The photography class begins next week. The brochure says that the class is supposed to help you learn how to use your digital SLR camera. I really don't know how to use mine, so I thought this would be beneficial, even if I only ever end up taking pictures of my kids.

I'm grateful that Greg encouraged me to do this, and that he's willing to be on Aimee-duty a few nights a week now. I'm probably not going to get to do something like this for a while, at least until Greg's done with law school. I'm going to live it up and thoroughly enjoy my back-to-school summer!