Back to the Museum i Go ...

I am currently in the docent training program at our local art museum, the Norton Museum of Art. I have been taking part since October, and have been enjoying it immensely. It's actually quite a rigorous program, but that is one of the things about it that I like the most. We have been learning the collection, and reading lots of articles on museum education.
It's like going back to art school and it couldn't have come at a better time for me in my life right now. I have been a little out to sea since my mother took a fall a year ago. Transitioning from a full-time caretaker who also was trying to work on her own creative writing to a part-time — what, exactly? Between shuttling between my mom at the nursing home and daughter's schedule and my own quest for personal improvement, mentally and physically — I wasn't exactly concentrating on any creative projects.

My first "practice tour stop" was on this exquisite jade carving from the museum's Chinese art collection,  "Figure of Mulan on Horseback."

Adding the Norton to my schedule should have pushed my over the edge, but actually, I think being back in a museum environment and looking at art and talking about it with like-minded people has actually helped my focus even more on my own work and health. At least I hope so. Change is hard, but I have always believed that it is good. And getting to immerse myself in art and ideas for me is beyond good.