| What's
on the Easel? Newsletter/blog Archived newsletters November 2006 |
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  The road in front of our old house. (sketchbook page) 
The horses going to their
temporaryhome on Hawk Hill. (sketchbook page)  View inside the motor home, with cat. (sketchbook page)  View of the big blue motor home, ready to pull out of town, with small car in tow. (sketchbook page)  Bill Davies relaxing and chatting with Tom inside Big Blue. (sketchbook page). |
A New Home! Early in 2006 my partner Tom
and I set out to find a new location for our home and studio. All of the
equipment, art, and the household "stuff" was put into storage, the horses were
taken to a loving friends' stable, the three kitties each had lessons on how to walk on a
leash... (I discovered that the natural horsemanship theories that apply to
young horses, apply to cats as well...) we loaded up an extremely scaled down
version of art supplies, office and household supplies into the Big Blue 1949 Ford
adapted Motorhome. And... off we went. The first stop was a couple of weeks at the home of Bill and Phyllis Davis, in San Luis Obispo. There we made alterations to the motorhome to make it "Kitty safe", and received a wonderful education in living green. We learned more about global warming, caring for the earth, innercity gardens, eating locally grown foods, and composting and protecting and harvesting water. Composting toilets were a big topic of discussion! We realized how much good water (and potential soil amendments) is wasted with the systems in current use in the USA. It is actually a fun topic, after the initial weirdness to our North American ears. After leaving the Davies home, we stayed in state parks, and with friends and relatives for about 4 months. We were focused on having a relaxing, creative and happy time, finding a place to live that we both agreed on, and where we could get back to work making art. Our travels lead us through the South West, Arizona, and finally New Mexico. We met lots of wonderful people, and saw some great potential places. Visiting Arcosanti, just north of Phoenix, Arizona was one of many places that inspired us greatly. But finally, we reached Santa Fe, New Mexico, and that is where we decided to stay. There is one of the world's best art supply stores here, filled with paints and brushes and sketchbooks. Actually that's what made me decide that this was the place, for now at least. Gypsies that we be. Santa Fe is supposed to be a great art market. It definitely has an abundance of galleries, and museums, with exhibits from all over the world at different times and places. A never ending stream of dance troops, and musicians on tour, it's fun place to be. The fact that there are 19 Pueblo Tribes of indigenous people throughout New Mexico also makes it a unique place, as well as a high population of Hispanic and Mexican people. It feels a lot like another country, maybe Italy, or Spain, or the moon. Santa Fe is place that I have visited many times and lived in twice, it felt like home when we arrived. Even though it has grown, a lot, and one can hardly see the adobe's for the cars, it still has a certain feel, artistic, energetic and spiritual, that both Tom and I were looking for. It took a while, but we located a wonderful place that works perfectly for a home and studio, and for the horses and cats. Tom is working on a new series of large abstract paintings, I'm still just soaking up the new atmosphere, a new series of work will eventually emerge from all these experiences. These are some pages from my sketchbook of the trip. Keeping a sketch book is one of my most favorite things to do.  Big Blue getting her carburator adjusted for the high altitude. (sketchbook page)
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