Taking Stock
The last couple of months have been a little different than normal, as my mom had a brief illness that left her in need of a little extra help from March-June. My siblings and I took turns staying with her, running errands, taking her to doctors appointments, and helping her around the house. The last trip to my childhood home lasted three weeks, and I returned home for good about mid-June. Thankfully, Mom, at 86, is again independent and happily improving every day in her own home. We are all grateful.
The only painting I did while at my Mom’s.
I had great aspirations to do art; take photos, paint, sketch, and write while I stayed with my mom. I packed accordingly and brought work with me to do. Alas, not only did I not really have time for any of that (being a caretaker is a busy job!), but I just wasn’t emotionally invested in it. I feel like I’ve been in a funk for a few months now. At first I began to get upset about it. “I’m not posting new work” or “I don’t feel inspired,” were things I told myself. “Why don’t I feel inspired? I should be doing something!” I chastised myself. What I’ve come to understand is the time away from my creative process was not necessarily a bad thing. I was absolutely where I needed to be while I was helping my mom, and that was the most important thing I could be doing. Anything else was secondary. In a way, the difficult decisions regarding her healthcare we made together as a family unit, the responsibility I felt while caring for her and the bonding I experienced with my siblings was an important aspect of the assessment I find myself in now. It’s a good time to take a deep breath and take stock.
2024 Booth Setup
The rest of the summer will be quick and busy. I have been accepted into some great art festivals, and I’m literally taking stock of my stock…ordering prints, making sure I have everything I need for my setup, and updating my catalog. Participating in an art festival and having a good-looking booth with plenty of things to engage potential customers is no easy feat! As I enter my second season of doing this, I again reflect on the respect I have for fellow artists and the work it takes to do festivals. There’s a formula of sales vs. costs, travel expenses, and time that goes into each show opportunity. I am still figuring out my formula, but I’m really looking forward to my season and the opportunity to engage with photography and art lovers.
A Columbine taken in Colorado after a rainstorm
Another aspect of my self-assessment is the toe-dipping I’ve doing in other art media. From watercolor and acrylic paints (yikes, acrylics are not my favorite so far) to the new oil paints I have waiting for me in my art desk, to the linocut pads with their little pink shards scattered all over my work area; I am keeping an open mind as to what my “thing” might be beyond photography. For many years I have longed to be an artist, but I didn’t know when or how or in what medium. Now that I have the freedom to do anything I’d like, it’s an exciting but overwhelming prospect. I don’t want to be a “jack of all trades, master of none,” but rather, I want to focus on photography and perhaps one or two other mediums where I can find my groove. Somehow, I think there’s a way to marry my love for photography with my other art interests. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but the the anticipation of discovery is invigorating.
Cheers to taking stock: good summer, good discoveries, good downtime, good people and good things to come!