Barclay Turns in His Brushes and Bow Ties for a Bat'leth.

Starting this fall, Professor Barclay Tucker will move from teaching in the Visual Arts Department to heading and teaching many of the classes in the newly formed Department of Klingon Studies.

In response to the move Professor Tucker said, “ This is a completely new enterprise for me. At first I was somewhat defiant about it, but I realized it was really the final frontier of education. This is a voyage to seek out new pedagogy and to boldly go where no professor has gone… I realized it was the logical thing to do. In the end, it was an opportunity I just could not pass up.”

Many of the faculty at Lyndon State have expressed excitement about the new program. Some statements have been, “I have never seen a college that is so forward thinking” and “buy' ngop!”

Of the change in responsibilities, President Bertolino said, "Ya know, it makes perfect sense. Professor Tucker has a unique tie to the subject. His first name and demeanor is similar to that of  Lt. Barclay who will possibly serve on the Starship Enterprise D and his last name is just the same as the engineer of the first Enterprise. Both ships will potentially have numerous interactions with the Klingons.” 

President Bertolino went on to say “This new Degree in Klingon has broken down all the silos in the different programs at Lyndon. Atmospheric Science will be teaching what we know of the weather on Kronos, The Business department will be teaching about the future impact of human Klingon interaction on the economy, The English Department will teach Klingon Literature, Exercise Science will have classes on mok'bara, Music and Business Industry will look at Aktuh and Maylota and other Klingon Operas. Janet Bennion's class in Klingon cuisine is just tasty. You haven't lived until you've had Gagh.“

Students in the new program will explore the Klingon culture and language, look for solutions to possible future catastrophes between humans and Klingons before they have a chance to occur, and delve into the ecological menace of Tribbles.

For more information on the new degree, visit Lyndon State College's site here.

This Weekend at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

This past Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the opening of Murray Tinkelman's Exhibit, Baseball, Rodeos, and Automobiles, at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Not only is Murray an incredible illustrator, but he has been one of the driving influences in my life as an artist. His passion for illustration and his expertise as an instructor pushed me to want more of myself. His was the first Art history class that I could stay awake in.
To sit amongst the Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell and listen to him again was incredible.
In addition to seeing Murray and Carol Tinkelman again, I was able to see fellow classmates from Syracuse and Hartford, Ted Michalowski, Anne Catharine Blake, and Yong Chen. I was also able to catch up with my other great professors, Ted and Betsy Lewin, Bill Thomson, Doug Anderson, Lisa Cyr, and Denis Nolan. It was a great evening of great art and wonderful friends.

Visiting the Oracle at Delphi

Let me first start off by saying I love Delphi. It is a beautiful small village and now one of my top ten favorite locations on the earth. The ruins at the Temple of Apollo set against the Grecian mountains were majestic, somber, and beautiful. I got a sense of the sacred standing next to these structures. It was inspiring to stand amongst the history. Here are my sketches of the Treasury of the Athenians and the remains of the Temple of Apollo.

Interesting Find

I was working on a project and happened to be searching the web with my name and I came across this. It is a presentation done on me by a high school student that had interviewed me a little over a year ago.

A Room with a View

Here are two more sketches that were completed on my recent visit to Italy and Greece. This was from my hotel room looking out towards Sorrento. 

Island of Poros

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to take a group of students to Italy and Greece to sketch. I love drawing on-sight. I love the immediacy of it and the energy of the drawings. Not only was I impressed with how well the students took to drawing like this, I was grateful for the opportunity to do many sketches myself. I love both countries. I was inspired by almost every nook and cranny of the places we visited. I look forward to the opportunity to go again in the future.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting what I drew. I will also be adding a little bit of color to some of the drawings.

This drawing was from a very brief visit to the Island of Poros just of the coast of mainland Greece.