 We have an '87 Volkswagon Westfalia. Years back, we had been on the look out for an affordable Westfalia in good condition and not having much luck. The closest one we found was one hundred fifty miles away in Sisters, Oregon. My husband thought we would have to go there and look at it, but I told him one would show up closer to home. The next morning, there it was, advertised in the paper, about three miles away from our house. We went to look at it and guess what? It's name was "Sam". Sold! We changed her name to "Grace" because of how she came to us, and now our whole family calls her "Gracie."
Last week we loaded "Gracie" up for a few days of camping on the Lewis River in Washington. I took my paints and an easel, and my husband took his guitar and his camera. We set up camp and spent three days hanging out in the woods. When we arrived, I was grumpy and distracted and anti-social. When we packed up to leave and come home, I was relaxed and much happier. When we got back from our camping trip, I got busy, because I'm a busy, goal-oriented person... I worked on my website. I worked to solve an issue with the photo book I'm making. I did some painting, resized photos for my albums,, and submitted to an art show. I went to the frame shop, did some work for PDX Open Studios, and I delivered show cards. Today I cleaned and rearranged my studio, and met with a collector. Now, I'm writing this blog and thinking about how nice it was to be out in the woods, surrounded by trees, with nothing that had to be done. I'm thinking about making time to do nothing more often, to do what I do when I go camping - sit around, think about stuff, notice stuff. I think doing more of nothing will bring a whole new dimension to making art. It seems like it will open up a whole new space for the creative process to grow into. The possibilities are crazy good to ponder... so I must go now to sit on my front porch for a few minutes and let my body soak up all potential that nothing will bring. |
Sam Y
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