Waiting on the Platform

Wait for it, wait for it... NOW!

As I've been heading down some new tracks this semester teaching Art History at a liberal arts college, I anticipated that it would be a great time to start this project with real people and real paintings. But I haven't posted much in the last couple of months. I feel like I'm still "waiting on the platform." (Typical NYC service, you wait and wait - and the F train comes but that's not the train you need to be on, and then you see the lights coming down the tunnel, oh wait, it's another F'in' train...) 

Part of what's holding me back from jumping into this "Before I Transfer" project is not having a dedicated studio outside my home, a neutral location where people can sit for their portrait. But what I really don't want to admit to myself is knowing that the core of my hesitation is wrapped up in the idea of leaving. That as soon as I begin this project, I fear I will begin to box up my life in this city, in this place, with all the people with whom I've been connected. 

Of course, actually doing this project - painting their portraits on transit tickets - offers such a rich experience that the sooner I begin, the longer I may enjoy it and share it with everyone along the journey.