...Just occurred to me that I might as well give you an update, since things are moving at a fast and furious pace.

To begin with, I won my unfair dismissal case against my ex-employer -- a small victory, but a victory nonetheless; it's great to be able to put the whole thing behind me and move on to other things -- which is exactly what I'm doing.

I've been accepted into the MA in Art Business program at Sotheby's in London, starting in September. It's a 14-month Master's program (I suppose I really ought to say "programme") offered in conjunction with the University of Manchester, which is reputedly one of the UK's top business schools. We'll see. The program itself is very business-focused; art just happens to be the commodity. With the degree, I could go on to do obvious things like running a gallery or museum, but I could also manage corporate or private art collections, become an arts writer (something I used to do, many lifetimes ago), work on cultural programs for NGOs, work in sectors of the investment industry -- seriously -- where art is the financial "instrument". At this point, the NGO work appeals to me most, but I'm curious to what other options are out there.

During the first few months, up until the end of the semester in mid-December, I'll probably be staying with friends in Wimbledon; after that, I hope to move into a friend's studio in Belsize Park. Robbie is coming with me, of course, so I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy him a proper Burberry coat.

Because I never seem to do things simply when I can make them complicated, I'm also about to start working for a consulting company here in the south of France. They do business development and change management consulting, and they've asked me to come on board in a part-time support capacity while I'm doing my degree. After that, if their business continues to grow, I'll have the option of working for them on a full-time basis. They're good people and the work is very diverse, something that appeals to me a lot.

I've also had some time this year to get back to my own artwork: I spent the month of June in Brittany, on an intensive drawing and painting course that was taught by my old friend and mentor from Yale, Robert Reed. The course was part of a summer program offered by the "Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art", an institution founded by a woman from the Rhode Island School of Design. It's a very serious school -- not to be confused with your run-of-the-mill holiday painting course -- and I found it physically and mentally exhausting (albeit very rewarding). I'm just not used to climbing up and down ladders, working on 4x8 foot drawings, and trying to keep up with mostly 18-to-20 year old students who consistently pull "all-nighters". Also on the art topic, rumor has it Mort Rosenblum is working on yet another book, which I'll be illustrating sometime next year. "Chocolate" turned out to be quite a success, so I have high hopes for this one too.

And that's about all, I guess (isn't it enough?). In the meantime, if anyone's interested in subletting a lovely flat in Antibes, long- or short-term, let me know.

Much love,

Mary