Last week I settled down to a routine of working. I read and bookmarked during the day wherever I could, and made notes and wrote at night once everyone had given up and gone to bed. This seemed to work, as a bouncy 7-year old only has so much patience with being told “I have to work on my dissertation” when he wants attention, or more often to use my laptop.
The bad bit is that I just didn’t manage to get into this routine in time, and I missed out on the deadline to submit a draft to my art history lecturer. I might end up flying blind for most of this as a result. The good bit is that in only a few days of concentrated effort, I’ve written the dissertation – the first draft, of course. The bad bit about the good bit… I may have overstretched my outline; and there’s no way I can condense the various branches of research I’ve been following into the confines of a relatively short essay. It’s feeling more like social anthropology at the moment. Fascinating reading, but a niggling feeling that I should talk about the actual art in question first. Maybe I’ll have to get this done for the course, then write a longer version (if I should ever find myself with nothing to do). Now I can see how being concise can be more of a challenge than filling out the word count.
During a trip into town I finally got to visit the main library and yes, although it’s in a newer building than the old coralstone building that previously housed it, it feels remarkably like the branch library, only with air conditioning. I wanted to get some pictures of the drawers housing the old card catalogue but didn’t want to get into trouble… and my camera was in the bag I’d had to leave with the security attendant on entering. What I did get was an ancient copy of The Suffrage of Elvira, at last! I assure you that I’ll give it back.
There hasn’t been much in the way of drawing apart from some sketchbook doodles. But I don’t feel bad about that. Now that I’m facing the end of my time here I just want to enjoy it. Still, I always had plans to make this visit work for me: I made contact with Annalee Davis, an artist I thought would make an excellent subject for one of the case studies required for the impending Professional Practice unit. She agreed to do an interview, and I’m definitely looking forward to writing it up now – it’s very relevant to my particular experience for one of my case studies to include someone who’s had a similar background: coming from the Caribbean and training abroad. If I have time I’d like to visit Morningside Gallery at the Barbados Community College campus. I also found an excellent magazine on fine art in the region. It’s fantastic to know that there’s so much more going on here than what’s on the surface!
