New Art Space!
I wanted to share some pics of my new art room. It’s been a long journey; from the comfortable space I had set up in my former home in Michigan, to the year (+) spent in the limited space of an RV while waiting for our house to be built during a pandemic, to the new digs that are now (at-long-last) established in our freshly-built home in a suburb just outside of Austin, Texas.
It’s been quite a journey! In spite of everything, I managed to keep working on my art. In actuality, it was my lifeline. Despite all of the negative feelings I have about living in such a confined space for almost a year and a half, I don’t regret the experience.
Just a little background: One of my daughters had invited us (husband and I and our 3 Chis) to live with them on a property they had planned on purchasing. It was to have enough room for us to have our own separate place while living in close proximity to our daughter and grandkids.
We had situated ourselves well for retirement in a small (app 1000 sq ft) house in Michigan, with a very low mortgage payment. We had also paid our bills down so our monthly payments weren’t too taxing. We could live comfortably on our social security, but there wasn’t much left for extras, such as traveling to visit our kids (who all lived out of state or out of the country). Not complaining; we were relatively happy with our circumstances. But the opportunity to live out our golden years close to at least one of our kids (plus grandkids) was too great to pass up. So we said yes and made the leap…
Due to very extenuating circumstances, our house build was delayed. Too late! We’d sold our home and had to leave, so we moved into an RV on our daughter’s property while it got sorted. It was supposed to be for just a few months. I’ve always held the opinion that anything can easily be tolerated for a few months. Pandemic issues and contractor changes pushed a few months to almost a year and 1/2. It was, um—challenging. Mantras such as “Hey, it’s better than nothing”, “Just put your head down and keep moving forward”, “A lot of folks have it MUCH worse”, “Soon, you’ll be laughing about this” etc. were constant visitors through my revolving mind-door. Doggedly setting up a space in which to draw and paint and pushing myself to create deadlines for posting finished artwork literally kept me sane.
When the house was finished, we moved in amid hoarder-worthy stacks of boxes and an unfinished kitchen, but again, mantras in place, we got through. We were not just looking at the light at the end of the tunnel, but actually living in the light! I experienced a silly existential adjustment (Now what? I don’t deserve this! Where’s that other shoe…) but I finally arrived in a good place, with art materials abounding and time and space to employ them.
Then, Ukraine. Unthinkable sorrow, anxiety, destruction, despair. My first pieces in the new space are a reaction to humanity’s ongoing struggle to evolve into something better. The first is a portrait of a madman, Putin, as a maniacal puppeteer. The second (entitled Breath of Life) is a depiction of our connectivity to the life force of everything, imagined and beyond our imagination.
Face of Evil Delights in Destruction
Well, that’s all for now. How are you coping, what are you doing to reconcile this punch in the gut to expanding consciousness and Humanity’s evolution?
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