From Maggie to Wrigley+Jan

 Maggie's envelope for Wrigley and Jan is so cute. Her rendering of the puppy is so cute. It's effective that she flipped the direction that her drawing is facing. She also put this one inside a plain envelope to avoid the issues with the scanners not reading her beautiful script. So, technically, she did not need all 3 stamps, since it did not go through the mail. But, I think it looks a lot cuter with the 3 stamps.

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A couple weeks ago I was wondering if you could get a PhD in art. As I recall there is a university where you can propose your own idea for a PhD and one of the best designers of crossword puzzles wrote a proposal and was granted a PhD in crossword puzzle design. (I hope I am remembering that correctly.)

I seem to recall conversations when I first got into calligraphy in the 90s - where I pondered getting a PhD in penmanship. At the time, it seems like people thought that the only art related area that offered PhDs was in art history.

Flash forward to me finding the guy in Poland who had a PhD in art - and then finding a website that listed places to consider if one wanted a PhD in art -- and I found this website:

https://www.phdstudies.com/phd/arts

If you are really interested, look at the whole list - it is not that long. If you want my quick impression - most of the PhD programs are in other countries - several in England. In the US - there is one in Texas that dovetails art with technology - so that doesn't count (in my world.) And there are a couple others that look like those online universities.

I'm am a consummate fence-sitter on the topic of degree programs in art. I'm not against them, as are some people. But, I do not think they are essential. Whether you study at the college level - or just go straight to work - as an artist - you have an equal chance of success. And that definition of success is deeply personal. 

This will be discussed further in late August.

“glimmers” refers to small, ordinary moments that spark feelings of happiness and joy — and, consequently, an inner sense of peace. 

“glimmers” refers to small, ordinary moments that spark feelings of happiness and joy — and, consequently, an inner sense of peace.