Oh Passion Where Art thou?

Here we go again - the start of another semester of school and well, let's just say we're off to a turtle paced start. It's funny how you can wish and hope as much as you like at New Years for energy and pizzaz in your life and well you just don't get it that way do you?

That right there is what it really looks like to start a semester. ANYWAY - I'm going to keep this post a bit shorter as it is more of a "QQ" post than anything. On to the true topic floating in my mind:

Since I've been back to Cornish I've noticed the shift in interest in the style of Art taught or rather just floating around in the atmosphere. Representational work, more focus on the human form, and working incredibly large are just some of those changes I've noticed. I'm not saying it's a bad thing - I just don't think it's everyone's niche. I've felt more like this bacteria or a person whose door is knocked on by a Jehovah's Witness every weekend.

It saddens me very much that I came back to Cornish with the incentive of getting back on my conceptual bandwagon only to find that it's long gone. I often ask myself if I truly deserve to be there at all because I'm not sure I'm welcome, not just as a conceptual artist but as an international student. I don't want to have to wear a shirt that says I'm not from here but my most memorable experiences since I've been back when it comes to being the "Alien" are these:

1. Maybe the work you're making isn't for this audience. (Maybe this audience should get off their Hipster High Horse)

2. I was at a meeting for international students and I expressed my stress over having more classes than I usually take, and I was told by a staff member "Being stressed is part of the Cornish Culture". (If I get an ulcer or cancer or a heart attack - I will sue. Just because it's "Cornish Culture" doesn't mean it's OK.)

3. I expressed that I paid more to be here as an international student because I assumed I had to pay more than local students. Turns out the tuition is the same but scholarship access and loan access is not, so YES I DO PAY MORE TO BE HERE. 

I came back to Seattle SPECIFICALLY for Cornish. Print Studio X with Dawn Cerny has been the only class to not shit on me while I've been here. 

In response to those who think I might be sitting on my High horse and making blind judgments that only apply to me - You only live once and I only have so many chances to do the things I love considering my social background. I want my moneys worth and I want to live healthily without feeling like someone is just waiting to pull the rug out from underneath me. Is it so wrong to express that to the applicators of your stress? I don't want my stress to be the death of my love for Art and right now it is truly starting to feel that way.

To each their own I guess.