handvaerk

My good friend Ian Bally, sent the photo above from his trip to Amsterdam. Handvaerk... alive and well in Amsterdam. 

I have not seen Ian for several years, but there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about him. We spent so many hours at the studio during graduate school and I have no doubt that I would not have made it through the experience without him keeping me grounded and allowing me to "vent" on numerous occasions. I think of him at the start of every new semester as he and I used to go over our projects and course calendars before we would begin teaching for the year. I always valued his opinion and I could count on him for sound advice. It's funny that when you enter into graduate school you always wonder if the school it the "right fit" or if the professors you study with will have an impact on your future. I have to say that the people I went to school with, my peers, had the largest impact on my life today. There is no doubt that I left school a better and more knowledgable person having known Ian. 

Ian, if by any chance you happen to be reading this, "thank you".