Taking Art Appreciation Classes in Quarantine

Our professor Dr. Sharon Latchaw Hirsch
teaching a class in a pink blazer and a skirt separate.
She usually wears her open toe low-heeled
pumps with this ensemble.

Wanda and Derek said they were taking an online art appreciation class and I was all in. I have never taken an art appreciation class and always wanted to. Then Wanda and/or Derek said they were taking the class online and the subscription costs fifteen bucks a month. 

I signed up immediately and commandeered Tom to be my fellow co-ed.  

We completed all 34 lectures in the course and I'm looking forward to commenting knowingly on art of all kinds. Henceforth, when I see a sculpture in the round, I will walk the whole goddamn way around it and study the pedestal before I make any premature evaluations. And don't even with the rococo. I can spot those cupids from a mile away. 

Our professor, Dr. Sharon Latchaw Hirsch certainly knows a lot about art, we appreciated that from the get go. But as the classes progressed, and this may or may not be the pandemic talking, but she wormed her way into our hearts. 

When the last class ended and she said goodbye, I felt a little pang of melancholy. Dr. Sharon Latchaw Hirsch had taken us under her art appreciation wing for 34 f*ing classes and she showed us her etchings, so to speak, all the different kinds. Side-by-side, we compared baroque and neo-classical paintings. We clucked at the medievals who hadn't quite figured out perspective but really nailed the gold leaf. I sat in our dim livingroom and clapped for her as the picture on the screen faded to black.

Besides the art appreciation, this course also taught us something in the way of self-awareness. Apparently, Tom and I are very capable of poling a boat full of extracurricular pursuits against the raging current of the actual course material.

We became fascinated by Dr. Sharon Latchaw Hirsch's range of outfits. Each class, we looked forward to what she might wearing. Would it be the feisty multi-colored blouse with the black suit top and the pants... OR the suit separate skirt? Which earrings? And how many jackets does she have with the same draping sleeve cuff? We became obsessed by all this and also by how much she likes dogs and can manage to work a dog into almost any conversation.

We mentioned Dr Sharon Latchaw Hirsch's outfits to Wanda and Derek but they were far less intrigued. This is clearly one of those things that in hindsight maybe we should have kept to ourselves.