Summertime is here!
For most people this makes little difference in their day-to-day routine, but for students and teachers summertime means summer vacation.
For a little school kid that means swimming pools and water guns and the feeling like school will never return. For older school kids summer vacation means summer jobs. Cutting grass. Flipping burgers. Packing groceries. Bussing tables. Selling blood. The thrill of the summer job cannot be over-emphasized.
One of the perks of being a school teacher is still getting summer vacations…paid summer vacations. One of the anti-perks of being a private Christian school teacher is still needing a summer job.
In my 8 years of professional teaching I have still had the questionable pleasure of working at a summer job. I’ve been a camp counselor, a house painter, a landscaper, and even a private art instructor. It is difficult to describe the joy of making less than minimum wage as an adult trying to support his family. Nothing says “summer vacation” like working all summer.
But this year is going to be different. This year Jess and I are embarking on a new and entrepreneurial endeavor.
We leave Monday for Nicholson, PA. My father-in-law, Nick, has graciously agreed to
relinquish his shed for three weeks to give Jessie the opportunity to set up a make-shift clay studio. Jess’s old high school art teacher has also agreed to allow her access to his kilns. So for three weeks (or so) Jess will be working in her clay studio making ceramics. I will be watching the kids while she works and building a deck with my father-in-law and brother-in-law.
From there we’re heading to Long Island for three weeks (or so) and I’ll be focusing on my drawings. Portraits, botanicals, and some nature studies. Jess will be watching the kids (as usual) and she will not be building a deck; mainly because her due date is August 21st.
So this summer’s goals are:
1)Jess will make a LOT of well-made, sellable ceramics.
2)I will build a deck without losing any digits.
3)I will make a lot of small sellable drawings.
4)Launch a website (not a blog site) about the work we’re making.
5)Get back to Philly before the baby comes.
6)Find an art fair for the fall where we can sell the things we’ve made.
So for the next seven weeks the blog site will be devoted to tracking this endeavor. I have no idea how this will work out, but we’ll be posting updates as often as possible (hopefully daily) so keep checking back often to see how we’re doing.
And keep praying for us!
