On Sept 5, 2006, I returned to college for an MFA. I took a one year leave of absence and returned in 2008. My college: Long Island University's C. W. Post campus in Brookville. It's 60 mile commute from my home in Riverhead but must get an MFA to be an art professor. I love school. Away from the intellectual stimulation of school, my life withers. Working outside the art field interferes with my artistic output, and I must paint more - not less. Life would be so much easier if I were not an artist - but I am determined and/or crazy. I chose C. W. Post because my mentor from Southampton College, Neill Slaughter, transferred there after the Southampton campus closed. I will take an assistantship and student teach in two of his classes this fall. Like me, he's a realist painter and an advocate for the legitimacy of realism. (He paints somewhat in a more impressionist style than me, but what's important is that he has an eye for beauty.) Most of the other professors at Post are modernists, and consequently not as open to the "traditional" type of painting that I do. To better understand where "my head is at" regarding modernist vs. traditionalist art, I would direct all interested to read my article "Art's Eclectic Future - A Synthesis (Parts 1 & 2)" on the Artistic Network. Click this link: