Blog

After months of preparation, I have embarked on a new life.  I left my Southern life and have begun a new one on a hilltop in Pennsylvania.  Views of nearby mountains, miles of farmland filled with corn and soybeans, a distant dairy, and an occasional whistle of a train are my norm now.  The house is finally done here, with updates and repairs to its fifty year frame.  As of yesterday, the studio was finished up, with new lighting, floors, updated walls, plumbing -- you name it.  It is a blank canvas, ready for the boxes and equipment that are in the storage units down the hill.  I've been without my working studio for a few months, and working in the new space fills my thoughts!  

What has been required is a bit of patience, in fact, a lot of it.  Perspective for the big picture, putting things in their order of urgency has dictated my attentions and my efforts.  A home in Georgia had to be cleared out and prepared for market -- not an easy thing when my studio sprawled through half of it. Collections of twenty two years in that home had to be reviewed, pared down for a smaller space, thrown away or sold.  A staggering collection of art materials forced choices for future efforts.  Enough to stock a supply store! What did I think were the essentials I couldn't operate without? What could go with me?  Then the artwork decisions came.  What to do with it?  I am a prodigious producer.  My normal routine includes painting almost every day.  And I never throw artwork out.  There was no room for all the art I had created in the new space.  After packing all my favorites, the time came to select work that would be sold at the estate sale.  There were many that I chose to make available, period pieces from my over thirty five year career.  These were experimental pieces, along with some of my lowcountry works that I no longer had a market for.  I had to focus on future works, so I let them go.

Seeing the studio empty, the rooms scrubbed clean and swept clear, was surprisingly freeing.  I was about to embark on a life adventure, after living all my life within twenty miles of where I was born.  I had been fortunate to find a home near my daughter in Pennsylvania, and that bit of security served as encouragement.  I was not totally alone, though my life as a widow was only beginning.  I knew I had done my best, and it was time to focus on my new life. It's time to see where my creative vision will lead me.  

So I'm being patient, and tomorrow I will begin slowly bringing box after box of art materials to my new space.  My easel will be placed in its spot, the tables will be set up, frames stocked and canvas arranged. The kiln will arrive out on the patio where I can safely fire it up when I need it.  My boxes of brushes stand at attention, ready to be used.  The crates of paint, medium and all manner of creating materials will find their places on the storage racks.  My new artworks can take shape!  The future is bright...I might need shades!