OPEN STUDIO/SALON HOURS: 10AM-4PM
DATE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 28TH
WHERE: SHER FICK’S 4ARTSAKE STUDIO
1023 ST. HUBBINS DRIVE, SPRING HILL TN
STUDIO ENTRANCE IS DOWN THE STAIRS BEHIND THE
DRIVEWAY . . .
Artists are encouraged to bring something to work on, artworks to critique, anyone is welcome to come and join in on the conversations, we’ll break for lunch at noon (bring your own, or there are many restaurants within 5 minutes of the studio).
Call if you need an area set up for your workspace, otherwise – come and go as you please, interested guests are welcome! We are hoping to make this a monthly, growing event.
January 26, 2010 6:27 pm
2 comments!
January 25, 2010 6:51 pm
Quick Update on Why I Have MIA on MY OWN BLOG . . .
After a big health in October (dogging breast cancer but still needing to have a lumpectomy) and then having my former health issues of an injured back flare up again (culminating in a painful herniated disc) – the last month has been all about getting through the holidays, family visits, and getting myself to and from the chiropractor . . . I still have some very bad, pain-filled days which has caused me to be fighting off depression . . . but I think I have turned a corner today.
Today I turned in my Fellowship Grant to the Tennessee Arts Commission. It has been a goal for 3 years and this is the first time I didn’t miss the deadline. It almost happened, but somehow, with the help of friends and my supportive husband – that paperwork was delivered!
As to the ‘art’, here is what has been going on since my last entry:
Currently I am on the couch with my left elbow up so I can type with 2 hands. This gets very tiresome, however, I can research and play lots of games with only my right hand! (note: I am not to sit more than 15 minutes at a time)
So – more good news this week (if you haven’t seen my Facebook updates) . . .
1. I will be part of Miami Basel in December (hopefully, my pants shan’t fall down as happened to a dear friend in the Miami Airport). This will be the traveling exhibition I have been in Take Care . My work in it will be Coping Skills, see below.
2. My art was featured on the Home Page of OvationTV (might still be there).
3. Yesterday Adrienne Outlaw and myself were invited to be part of a museum exhibition (based on our pharmaceutical work) at The Customs House Museum & Culture Centerin Clarksville, TN for March-April – which is actually an amazing place for kids and adults. Not sure of exact dates or our exhibition title yet, but there you go! The exhibition will feature 10 Distinctive Contemporary Women Artists - celebrating National Women’s Month.
4. I got the fellowship grant delivered 4 pm today to Downtown Nashville. I don’t want to throw away that 5K! Keep your fingers and toes crossed – it would truly be a blessing to have those funds for attending a workshop at Arrowmont, to purchase more art supplies and studio equipment . . . it would be a miracle.
So, if I can just live through this herniated disc, I can accomplish all these things. I have decided not to travel to NYC for the (group) Queens, NY show in February at Flux Factory- but I will still travel to the Gulf Coast Florida show that I am assisting in the jurying . . . doing this with an art friend, Aletha Carr, because she can drive and I can be prone on her back seat . . . so I have about a month to be mobile.
Even more great things – I made some new art a few weeks ago – it has many excerpts from emails sent by friends about encouraging me in my art. Created from encaustic, tin, model magic, archival inkjet, tracing paper. 14″h x 12″w x 12″d. Created for “CALL HOME” installation at Flux Factory, Queens, NY – February, 2010.
“YES YOU CAN . . . HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO”
Currently (November ‘09 – March ‘10) I have an installation up at seedSPACE, Nashville, TN – it consists of site-specific installations and include: Coping Skills and A Paxil A Day:
above right: (detail of A Paxil A Day) – it actually covers a 4 ft x 6 ft wide area and can have as many as 169 units . . .
Fresh off the press is “JUST DESSERTS”
consists of: glass vanity mirror tray, foil candy cups, lucite cones, fabric, silicone
So – I feel like I am completely unaccomplished, but I guess a few things are going on beneath the surface.
So, what do you think???
November 30, 2009 5:58 pm
Obviously I have been lost for a month or so – at least to my blog. It is the never-ending struggle of balancing my ‘daily’ life with my ‘art’ life, which somehow doesn’t seem to co-exist very well during certain times of my life.
As you know, I don’t have a ‘day’ job or a salary. So, what, EXACTLY, do I do with my time???
I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. When I do get down into my beloved, treasured studio – I am extremely productive. In fact, I am amazed sometimes at the amount of work I can get accomplished overnight. It is the ‘getting down there’ that is the problem at hand.
Studio Image from Fall 2009
Unbeknownst to some, the work of an exhibiting artists entails caboodles of paperwork. Some days it feels like I have made work (let’s say 1 day that week), but the rest of the time is spent marketing, proposing, begging for grant money, all in an effort to have that work get out to the public. I’ve been struggling with this, too. Is my work created just for me? Would it be enough to make it and keep it hiding here in my house? If I do keep it here, what does that make it? A hobby?
Finished Encaustic Assemblage Work - on studio shelf
I think intent is so important here – my intent when I make objects or alter them is to make commentary on social issues. Therefore, I have a calling to do social interpretation . . . which, therefore, requires a society to interact with them. Would it not be so much easier if I just wanted to quilt something to keep myself and my loved ones warm? Here is my stick – that isn’t enough for me.
So there. It isn’t enough for me. So my calling is to make and my duty is to get it out there. Towards that end I had the 2 trips to Grand Rapids for Artprize in Sept/October. I still had my broken ankle and that made things more difficult – but the installations were great and it was seen by more than 10,000 viewers. I found out during that trip there is still much gender-bias in the art world. I am disappointed, but more determined than ever to move forward.
Coping Skills, as lit at ARTPRIZE 2009
Also during October were 2 of my kids’ birthday parties (Claire’s 7th was a happening in and of itself) . . . more company and then in November I had the honor of being chosen as the first ever seed SPACE artist in Nashville, TN. [NOTE: seed SPACE is a lab for site-specific installation, sculpture, and performance-based art that brings attention to the excellence, diversity, and interest in contemporary art in Tennessee. seed SPACE brings in nationally recognized art critics to write exhibition essays.] My art reviewer was Chen Tamir the Director of Flux Factory, Queens, NY. seed SPACE is currently developing their website – I will provide their link when it becomes available.
Having an interview with a critic is not an easy thing. I am a very open person (obviously) – but I find that each time I have had a one-on-one with an art critic (including Linda Weintraub) the experience has cracked my art spirit wide open – even further than it was prior to the interview. I have likened it to having a living autopsy performed on oneself. I maintain that opinion. The benefit of going through this process is that the critic/reviewer, from their UNCONFINED PERSPECTIVE, can see all the connections and scars and various conditions of your lifework. Talk about insightful. Revelatory. Cathartic. I could go on and on.
Thomas Eakins' THE GROSS CLINIC
This all brings me to the following responses about the experience: the first draft review is incredibly astute and I appreciated the seriousness with which Chen viewed the work and our interview. It is invaluable to me, as a developing artist, to have such direct and unconfined perspective on my works to date. Interestingly enough, these interviews always spur in me an even greater understanding of who I am becoming and my place in the world – let alone the deeper investigations with the works themselves.
There are many other things which have occurred, including the beginnings of several new series, but November seemed to focus on investigating previous works as they are being exhibited. Additionally, I have 3 years worth of blogs to re-load all the images for due to my Typepad/Wordpress transfer – total debacle!
As I move into December, it begins another year of my life – my 43rd. Although some have mistakenly dismissed me as a bored housewife, I can tell you – there is little that would be more difficult for me to attempt than to nurture my art at the same time I try to raise a family. If I only needed to be entertained, i can think of much funner, cheaper, and immediately gratifying than being an artist. It is not the easiest route. Forging a new path never is.
October 17, 2009 11:17 pm
Entrance to Gallery 114, KCAD- Annette Gates "Colony" Series on Right
- Sadie Ruben’s “Alien Fetus”; Sher Fick’s “Coping Skills”; and Kristina Arnold’s “Drip”
By Golly I am back . . . I lost a few posts due to the hacking of my blog and the subsequent confusion it caused. Eventually I had to delete EVERY SINGLE image from the transferred Typepad posts and delete several new Wordpress posts . . .
Therefore, I have a huge hole to dig out of! It will take me some time, of course.
Here are few quick images of the installation which took place at Kendall College of Art & Design, Gallery 114 during Artprize 2009. Obviously, we didn’t win any of the money, but our exhibition was seen by more than 10,000 people!!!
Coping Skills by Sher Fick
With the great assistance of the Curator, Sarah Joseph, and her brilliant gallery assistants – we were able to unpack and install the 9 artists exhibition in 2 short days. www.kcad.edu
After 3 weary days in Grand Rapids, MI (I adore that city), I limped home by way of Indiana and was able to enjoy two visits my sister Lisa in Indianapolis and a large family get together as well.
Once home, I prepared 2 birthday parties: Claire’s 7th, an American Girl Tea Party, and Dylan’s 17th – Gaming/Pizza Party. Lots of help from my sister Susan and Mom & Don’s Mom as well!
Adrienne Outlaw's "Fecund Series" Video Installation
What was amazing to me was that the many years of work that Adrienne (www.adrienneoutlaw.com) and I did – actually came to pass. To see our work hung in a professional location, in a professional manner (kudos to myself) – it was astounding and very gratifying.
It stood up admirably against every high-end, contemporary work I saw at ArtPrize.
Although the process was very costly (think: printing for brochures, travel to and from, hotels, gas, food, rental car . . .) – I believe it was worth the expense and time involved. Note: no money has been made by anyone – in fact, all we have encountered is expense and unpaid work time . . . we are doing this in the hope that someone, somewhere, will find the social and economical value of our work and become either future venues and/or collectors. What a shot in the dark!!!! Does this make us stupid?
Libby Rowe's "Womb Worries"
The experience, after 3 years of research and hard work was satisfactory for the most part. I feel I know this work inside and out and have a good feel for the importance of our viewpoint. What seems to be disappointing is the gender bias we are still facing at the dawn of the 21st century. One would think that males in ‘art’ would have evolved with technologoy – but that is not the case. Those males in ‘mid-power’ postions were ‘not interested in what we [women] had to say.’ They looked over the fact that we are a group of 9 highly talented artists. That we cover the gamut of craftsmanship and technique. All that was obliterated and ignored because they felt our message was ‘not interesting’ to their testosterone brains nor to their students – both male and female. Well guess what – that really chaps my ass! Our exhibition is not only about reproduction (which includes both MALE and FEMALE to get that going – apparently they didn’t have sex education in high school), but the scientific and ethical issues which are now facing 21st century parents. The very generation which is bringing forth ground breaking therapies, ‘growing’ their very own children – that subject is unworthy and below them!
Lindsay Obermeyer's "Shadow Series: The Blues & Red Hot" with Monica Bock's "Fluid/Sac/Cord" in foreground
So, eh hum, I lose major respect for any sculpture male professor who judges an incoming artist on their gender. Grow up Neanderthals!
Open your eyes – you are outnumbered according to the world census records and you will not be pro-creating with anybody if you continue your male chauvinist pig attitudes. Plus – you suck!
I am so proud of each and every one of our artists included in “TAKE CARE” – we prove the addage – those that can DO – Do. . .. finish that phrase on your own if you have the brain power.
Left: Jeanette Mays "A.R.T. series" with Annette Gates "Colony" Series on Right
This crap makes me so tired. There seems to be very little respect in America for artists’ time and expenses that they ‘in good faith’ enact with very SLIM chances of success. There are a few good apples out there – but the way we are treated in the USA is vastly different from artists in Europe. On my recent travels in Europe, when I replied that I was an artist – the people practically bowed to me. Yes – what we do – when it is done well – is sacred and deeply deserving of respect.
Yes – I will make art no matter the price. But does that mean I should be a pauper and GIVE AWAY for free what I have spent money studying to do – I pay for supplies – etc?
It is all so very confusing as I also have many dreams for my children and their educations, which also cost money.
So – I’m back – I did receive a $1,000 grant to reimburse part of my expenses . . . so all in all, I am only about $2,000 in the hole for being part of Art Prize. I am hoping this ends up being a marketing expense and that someone out there sees the value of Art In America – and can free themselves from any bias to art created by women.
September 15, 2009 7:00 pm
So I want to blame the dog for eating my homework . . . but that would be me lacking verisimilitude.
What really happened? Well, it was animal related – my MIA status.
Snappy, The Evildoer!
It was the cat’s fault. All Her Royal Tailless Snappyness was doing was sleeping . . . possibly purring. This is normal – but where she chose to slumber was unexpected. SO unexpected that I fell down (possible threw myself down) five garage steps until I splayed onto the concrete floor. Somehow, I managed to levitate myself over the cat slumbering on the stairs.
Similar to my garage stairs . . .
Having birthed three children, busted my head and arm open in an all-terrain vehicle accident, several failed childhood suicide attempts . . . I have never felt such searing pain. Mainly in the ankle regions of my appendages.
The Controversial General Hood
We have to put this in chronological perspective as well, because THE VERY DAY BEFORE this a friend and I went to three Civil War Battlefield sights in Franklin, TN and the theme of the day was appendages – the loss thereof, in particular. In fact this friend and I had stayed up all night (again) ruminating over the severity of the war, the injuries, and the deplorable decisions by Hood that lead to the carnage.
The bad timing was that I was loading the car to head into Nashville to crate the TAKE CARE exhibition to prepare for its shipment to Grand Rapids, MI. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to that appointment!
So, I and my apparently disconnected legs lay tangled on the concrete. I couldn’t breathe, it hurt so much. “It” meaning – everything. My back, my shoulders, my hands and wrists where I had tried to catch myself, but worst of all – below the knees just seared and sang with so much pain they were almost numb. I did some lamaze breathing. I shed tears. I collapsed when I tried to push myself up with my arms.
After about 10 minutes of writhing and gasping, I managed to sit up somewhat and although I couldn’t feel how the feet were connected to my legs, I visually assured myself that they were, indeed, there. So – this is good, no? Because: 1) I don’t have to wave goodbye to my own leg from the window (as did some of the Confederate and Union soldiers in the war); 2) Well, at this point I couldn’t think of a 2nd good thing!
When I felt I could talk I scouted to the van on my bruised behind and retrieved the already packed cell phone. Who to call? My friend was in the house, but she was sleeping 3 levels away with the very loud, highly coveted hurricane fan on . . . in the the cave sleeping chamber . . . no way would she hear my screaming. Humm, also her cell phone was on the charger in the basement so it would do no good to call that phone.
So, I decide to call my husband. He is a PT, if nothing else he can come home and scrape me off the cement. I was so shaky I had a hard time calling the number . . . and, of course, he didn’t answer the cell, which meant he was with a patient. I decide this qualifies as an emergency and call the front office – I squeak out that I need Don and that it is an emergency . . . so he leads me through a few toe moving tests and we determine that the right ankle/foot is not broken, but the left probably is. He advises ice. So I crawl back up the steps, get icepacks and lay on the couch. I figure my friend will wake up and can take me to the doctor or when my son gets home he can drive me.
Before that can happen my son calls from school saying he is sick with a fever. So. I can drive with my right foot so I go get him at school . . . he drives home and drops me at the doctor and I get xrays . . . and diagnosed, 1 sprain, another bad sprain and a crushed outer ankle bone (that triangle thingy that sticks out), do the air cast/boot, get painkillers . . . home. My son goes back to the dr. on his own. He has mono. Lauren comes home, sick. Dylan takes her to the doctor. My friend wakes up in this chaos – we laugh as I giggle on my painkillers and we imitate General Hood waving his shoulder stump as he tries to say good bye to his own arm. We are, obviously, evil beings. We have never laughed so hard.
So that was all about 4 weeks ago. I am off the crutches and am down to braces and wraps for the ankle and can hobble almost anywhere. The worst part is trying to walk down stairs. (remember, my studio is down a very steep flight of stairs, I didn’t see it for a whole week). If I have been on my feet too long I am exhausted . . . but, you know – it could have been so much worse. For a few days I had the perfect excuse to sit and talk and get giddy on painkillers. Not a bad way for the universe to inform me I better slow down OR ELSE! I found out what OR ELSE meant . . . just like the Fairygod Mother that swoops down and wacks Little Bunny Foo Foo on the head.
LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO . . .
So that gives you a bit of the story of where I have been . . . not to mention the fact that I lost the information on how to access my very own blog for several weeks . . . I am back on track, back on my feet and there are NO MORE EXCUSES!
You can expect more updates, and the saga of how I am making it to Grand Rapids, MI in the near future!
September 12, 2009 1:23 pm
Ok – after weeks of losing my blog – I just found it again . . . watch out – I have 3 weeks of thoughts to catch up on!
August 12, 2009 10:27 pm
Seriously, I am so sick of the oblique/obtuse comments on Facebook and elsewhere.
WHY NOT SAY WHAT HAPPENED? I think obtuse people are just begging for attention like a whiny toddler.
Conversely, you also hear and read people say TMI – too much information.
So I am walking that tightrope right now. Normally, I lean far to my right, almost falling off from providing said TMI. This is me: 1) Open mouth; 2) Spill forth every synaptic thought that fires in my head; 3) Silence (from the requisite ‘peanut gallery’).
So then, if I hold a bit back, I hear this: 1) What’s wrong? 2) Or You o.k.?
The worst line I ever hear, because there are just too many ways to interpret it is: HOW ARE YOU/YA?
I get to choose between my normal – spill my guts mode or the very lame “I’m fine, how are you?” . . . which makes me want to just pass that ‘hiya‘ person right by.
I once had a former (not that I knew it at the time) friend ask me: “How are you – don’t say anything about school or your art, how are the kids and Don?” That was the last time I had a conversation with her. I have another hysterical story about her, but I need to figure out how to do it anonymously because the story explains exactly the type of person I DON’T WANT FOR A FRIEND.
So, get this – I decided that on MY BLOG, on MY WEBSITE, I get to . . .
get ready -
SPILL MY GUTS. Because where else do people come directly to me wanting to hear exactly what I want to say!!!!????? This is amazingly freeing.
I get to whine, or be insightful, or be obtuse (this is doubtful as I freaking hate OBTUSEness) . . .
So . . . . I am coming out of my Manic Closet (note: I am 85 percent manic – which explains the sleeplessness and excess of creative energy – and only about 10-15 percent depressive). I can handle the depressive side most of the time (I am a self-declared CELEXA taker). I am a self-aware person, what really trips me up are a few triggers:
- lack of funds to promote my art
- having a serious ‘discussion’ with my husband about said funds (er, lack thereof)
- feeling like a failure as a mother
- feeling like I just don’t want to get out of bed
-or, if I get out of bed, feeling all day like I want to crawl back in there.
So, one too many triggers last week sent me into an hysterical tailspin off the tightrope.
I crashed with no safety net – I refused to let a few people give me a hand off the tarmac . . . I laid there a few days complaining about everything . . . then I woke this morning and decided I would do the ‘fake it ’til you feel it’ strategy. Be perky, put on makeup (I do this once a week if Don is lucky), take my little one for a Frosty, get dressed!!! and put on the pretty skirt Claire wanted me to wear, take my little one to see her new 2nd grade classroom (which, due to my depression I had conveniently ‘forgot’ last night), I EVEN smiled when I talked on the phone . . .
Now, 14 hours later – I actually feel it. I faked my way back into a decent mood.
Looking back, what I realized is that ALL ALONG I had people underneath me, holding tightly to a trampoline hoping I would bounce back up. Here is what some of you were screaming up at me while I fell and after I was lollygagging on the *what I thought was the sidewalk, but was really the* trampoline:
“I know it is hard to have a career and be a mom and wife. It is a constant struggle. But having a family is worth it. I wouldn’t want to not have a family. Relationships are the most important thing about life! That’s what I believe anyway.” – Aletha
And I even got my OWN WORDS quoted back to me from dear Carrie:
“I’ve been reading old blog posts lately, they make me so happy. You said this:
Even When We Feel Static, Progress Is Occurring – our creativity is like unto the lunar tide – moments of fullness and moments of waning. The pull inward and the push outward. The unearthed debris visible one moment and submerged the next . . .
So there you go. ”
. . . Carrie goes on to say: “Remember how you made everything else happen? I know you have it in you to make this happen, too . . . You know this is your Right Work. But our calling is our instructor, too. Don’t be discouraged. You are an Artist. And SO few artists have the full package as you do. Allow a discouraging day, resistance is futile. Then put on your Invincible hat. Because you are, Sher, you ARE.”
“You are wonderful, know that and be good to yourself.” – Caryl
And here is Maureen (always Miss Sunshine to me), again, someone quoting me: “Which, as you know – is my goal in life – to be the twisted soul that I am, but to be lovable (and, loving, of course).”
That’s exactly why I love you, Sher!!!! and just a few days later this one from Maureen: “Oh Sher, beloved Sher . . . Hang on tight . . . Love ya, woman! We’re behind you.”
“You’ve been in my heart today, I can’t explain why.” – Amy R. (this was the day I melted down and BEFORE I had shared it with anybody)! Amy R. also saved me a vintage advertisement and is sending it to me to alter – mailing it FOR FREE as a gift!
Here is the MOST stunning which came the evening BEFORE my meltdown when I was ‘holding on tight’ to a modicum of ’sanity’ -
from Kathleen: “I have been on your pages many times and follow your blog. One of these times, words will tumble to describe what gifts you give. Here are a few…
About your vintage-ish pieces…
You participate in acts of redemption with your art. This is no small thing.
You wrap, seam and embellish memory and truth in teal, pink, calico.
The result… reality comforted, nostalgia disturbed.
And through it… your particular kind of shine persists.
Your vision is shared (thus we join) yet singular (thus we marvel).
Congratulations of the Grand Rapids Art Prize Show.
As a mother of three soul children, Nora, Morgan, Grace lost through miscarriage, I celebrate the all akimbo view of motherhood.
So this night, know this…
what you do matters and people notice.
Many people notice. They do not all comment.
Let my comments echo as many for you this night.
Blessings for whatever in your life these days
is pushing me to send this to you tonight.”
For God’s Sake – Slay me NOW . . . as I said, ALL ALONG, you (all of you) were there holding onto the trampoline. I may not have gotten it quickly this time, but I understand now.
That, for the first time in my life, I feel I have people/friends who will – CATCH ME IF I FALL -(altar niche creating in 2005-2006)
Thanks - friends of my heart
There are many more people, and here are some more short excerpts of love messages from my ‘posse’ -
“Sher, your art is fabulous . . . you are BEYOND fabulous . . . Hang in there! It will all be okay. I so love the little piece you made me. It makes me smile.” - Mary Lou
There are a few others that have the power to lighten my heart, even if I haven’t quoted them here, I give a bow to: George, Haven, Linda, GiGi, Vanessa, Kate and her Oreo Bon-Bon’s and general pin-up girl fabulosity, Jim Shue, John M, Michael T., Brenda QuinkyDink (all the HK Talkers! and former BB’s) basically, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND SUE ME IF I FORGOT YOUR NAME . . . Marshall, who THANKED me for being HIS friend . . .
I may actually sleep tonight. I, too, wish Gigi could send me some Ambien, darn those rules and regulations!
August 8, 2009 4:25 pm
so totally frustrated today. to make art I have to spend money. to market my art I have to spend money. to sell work I have to spend money.
i have no money
1:27 am
Welcome to the ‘new’ blog . . .
testing Wordpress . . . which I am determined will be easier than my technical challenges with Typepad. Amazingly, I am going on 2 years, this Fall being my 3rd year ‘on-blog’.
I hope I am getting better at entertaining or at least that you are enjoying the ride along with me as I fumble through my life and art career.
A lot has changed for me in 2 years. I have surpassed many goals and am sad to say other goals were left behind in the dust.
View of "Coping Skills" installation, from above
Seriously, even if inserting and labeling the images is easier, it is worth it to me!
So, here we go, fasten your seatbelts – we are off!!
Let me know if you are having any troubles with this format and I will try to work the kinks out.
I still have 1 week to finish setting my gallery on the website before I will really feel ’set’ – but I promise to practice and keep you posted . . .
so, bear (do you ‘bear’ with someone or do you ‘bare’ with someone? English teachers???) with me while I get the hang of it . . .
As always, each day,
For Art’s Sake,
Sher
August 3, 2009 4:27 am
Here we go again.
It is creeping towards 4 a.m. and I am more awake now than I have been all day (er, confession, since I got up at 10:30 a.m.)
So we did our much anticipated vacation last week. Good things about vacation: no alarm clock. Beautiful weather in the North Carolina Western Mountains for the first few days, it didn’t top 80 degrees, which is HEAVEN to me! Lazy days, listening to my daughter and her friend laughing . . . even enjoying the rain (although I was slightly worried about the camera when we got caught in a deluge).
Nature's Cathedral - My True Spiritual Home
Iffy things about vacation . . . NO internet. In theory, this is good, right? No work. However, lots of my ‘joy’ is on the internet . . . blogging, researching, looking at other artists’ work . . . so I felt pretty cut off.
In the end I did lots of reading. Knitting. Quiet time with the husband.
Marks the spot of my journey
On our first day we hiked around the top of Whiteside Mountain. This was glorious. As I walked I began to notice true calmness creeping through my being. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. It startled me when fellow hikers said ‘hi” – I was so in my inner world with nature that I was surprised anyone else was there. I found a bird on a limb overhanging a chasm and it was happily trilling . . .”helLO, here, here!” . .. seriously, and the way its’ trills echoed and bounced off the rock walls – it was a chorus of heavenly proportions.
I could have stayed there listening to my singing bird friend forever. It felt great to share this with Don and the bird sang for him, too. We were worshipping nature and all that it brings.
As we descended a toursit was smoking and I wanted to scream
“Hey, a-hole, what makes you think you can smoke in my church!!!!?????”
But, I didn’t. But that is how I felt. It is confirmed – Nature is where I worship and find sanctuary. It isn’t in a particular building . . . all I have to do is open a window, step outside, or from my studio – look out upon the creek and hundreds year old tree . . . I dwell there, in my church . . . daily.
May nature continue to entwine me . . . all the days of my life.