Last night I made the long drive out to Dekalb to visit my undergraduate campus, Northern Illinois University. I went there to see a lecture by Claire Sherman, a painter whose abstracted landscapes have been favorites of mine. The lecture was great and was very insightful to Sherman’s process. It was one of those lectures where the artist does a great job of showing where they were and where they are now and where they are heading. It kind of seemed like a analogy for something…

I haven’t been inside the art building since I graduated. Obviously I had to explore the building after the lecture. Honestly it was equal parts weird and refreshing. Not a thing had changed about the building. Some of the paintings that had been hung while I was there were still in their exact same spots. Mostly the only difference was that faces were either younger (the students) or older (the faculty) than I remembered.

First papermaking studio

I ran into my first ever figure drawing teacher, Frank Trankina, right before the lecture started. I had a nice chance to catch up with him. He was really happy for me about graduating this year. It was nice. And since I had just run into my first figure teacher and I was in my old school, of course I had to go visit the classroom that I learned how to draw people in. It was more emotional than I was expecting.

I guess what I’m getting at is maybe it’s important to revisit your roots every once in a while. A lot of my practice has been spent lately on revisiting my rock and roll youth and pairing that with my current life. This was an opportunity for me to revisit my artistic practices roots. Just walking through the halls brought back all sorts of sensory memories—the smell of charcoal and oil paint—the smell of sawdust coming from the wood shop—it was wonderful.

As I’m about to start my final semester of college… Pause… My FINAL semester of college… It was a perfect chance for me to remember why I started down this path and where I want it to go. I have had so many great art teachers over the years and I can’t wait to join their ranks. Being in a college town reminded me that I love the feeling of small college towns.

Poster inspiration

That sounds like I’m being negative about my time here in the city. That’s not it at all. I’m super grateful for my time in this wonderful city at Columbia College Chicago. It’s been a blessing, as they say. What I mean to say is that I’ve been to school in the big city and the small town and I know now that I will be able to thrive in either. And I can’t wait. Last semester, come at me; I’m ready!