The Slow Perfectionist

Mandy + Grad School = ???

So I’m considering graduate school for fashion design. Having given up the dream of being a university English professor (because I finally realized I hate literary criticism), I returned to the childhood dream of being an artist.

And now, being a “self-employed” artist person, dabbling in mixed-media paper goods and fashion, with the occasional return to photography–a return that will soon, God-willing, be permanent because of a friend’s generous darkroom donation and the purchase of a new computer (one that won’t bark like a rabies-infested dog whenever I attempt to use the internet and iTunes at the same time)–I have the epiphany that FASHION is where I’d like to focus a lot of my attention. But I feel I have reached the ceiling of what I can teach myself.

I want an actual CURRICULUM to study, with a teacher to whom I can ask questions–not the “go-and-find-a-pattern-and-I’ll-help-you-read-it” method of the community college / fabric store here in town. But of course, to be accepted to a graduate program for fashion design, I have to build a portfolio OF my own fashion designs. This is a Catch-22, is it not?

The Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD, in whose graduate program I am interested) has some community education classes I plan to take this fall to build my portfolio. And thank God, Amtrak has a train to Atlanta from a nearby station (because I HATE the drive to Atlanta).

So, dear friends, I’m asking for your advice, insight, and general opinions. What would you do in my situation? And, perhaps more importantly, how would you PAY for it?

Life | August 13th, 2009