Wyoming Bound!

I do have good news....we're going to be at an artists residency in Wyoming for the next two weeks!  Brush Creek Ranch Arts Foundation is hosting a brand new residency and they are starting with a pilot program for a sort of test group over the next few months to give feedback before they begin the program in earnest in January.  The only window that Johntimothy and I have is these next two weeks, because after that he'll have to start the new academic year at the university....so we're on our way!  We weren't sure it was going to be a "go" and we're the first ones that will be there and, who knows, maybe the only ones for the next two weeks, but that's fine too, although it would be great to meet some new people.  The residency is open to artists, writers and performing artists, composers and musicians....we'll have our own studios and two weeks of bliss to just be immersed in making, without the river, without laundry to do, meals to prepare, a lawn to mow or weeds to pull....bliss!!!

As many of the readers of this blog know, I've been kind of struggling lately, trying to come to terms with making something new, trying to feel my way into the three dimensional world of the object.  Well, I've slowly come to understand that maybe those desires were coming out of a kind of misplaced need for more success in the sales department and the notion of branching out to open a second Etsy shop or perhaps capture a different audience.  I am most interested in making objects and expanding my creative process in new ways, but some sort of frantic search had set in and I was putting the cart before the horse, as "they" say.  For me, any work that is made out of a wrong motivation (market-driven) is bound not to be successful.  The sale of the work has to be a by product and not the reason for the work, or it won't have authenticity.  So, I'm taking a stack of John's handmade paper, plenty of paint, embroidery thread and beads and I'm going to make the work that my heart knows how to make, if only I will listen.  These may or may not be pieces that end up in my shop....I don't know, as I don't know what conversation will unfold in that studio.  All I know is that Johntimothy and I both feel very fortunate that this opportunity came our way.

Here's what I'm leaving behind for the next couple weeks:

(the barge that loaded all our rock is still parked next door as there is no

boat traffic allowed on the river these days and they can't get it home)

(somewhere beneath those fallen trees on the other side of the river 

is a trailer now sunk into the river at a 45 degree angle)

(those are the very tops of trees just visible on the far right....

the farmland across the river is quite flooded and on the left so

many trees have toppled and so much land has fallen in that

the whole shape of the shoreline has changed)

But, guess what....I'm taking with me the poison ivy, the nice outbreak of chiggers and a host of bug bites...along with a bunch of ointment and some Benadryl.  My weeding brought a short amount of satisfaction, but I never finished the job....the weeds won!  I don't know why I'm so sensitive to all these things....nothing ever happens to John, but I always end with all manner of known and unknown rashes and quite miserable.  But, this too shall pass....

I don't know what life will be like for the next two weeks or whether I'll do any posting here or not.  But, you'll hear from me sooner or later and I hope to have plenty of new work to share and some stories to tell.  Thank you all for the wonderful support and good cheer....I so enjoy hearing from you! Enjoy your August....see you soon!