Home From the Hills

Back home and adjusting to the flatlands of Florida after a week in the mountains of North Carolina. Frankye and I spent a lovely week at the Kanuga Conference Center with the Kanuga Watercolor Workshop. I took a class in acrylic painting with an accomplished artist by the name of Rick McDiarmid. Rick is a sweet man and an encouraging and knowledgable teacher. I enjoyed being in his class.

This is the 3rd year we went to Kanuga. I enjoy it so much but do not come home rested. I am rested mentally and emotionally, but not physically. Physically I am challenged in a way I am rarely challenged in my usual life. I walk up and down stairs and up and down hills, and across dirt and plod along rocky paths. Actually I did much better than I thought I would and better than I did last year. I did better this year with no phone and no tv also.

I love making pictures and doing art but my life does not afford me the opportunity to make art 6 - 8 hours a day 5 days a week. When I go to a weeklong workshop I am both exhausted by the focus on art making and exhilerated by it. I ended each day tired and excited. I brought my laptop with me and each evening Frankye and I watched an episode of "Prime Suspect" on DVD that I borrowed from the library. It was just enough entertainment to chill out the creative exhaustion I felt each night.

So now it is Monday and I am back at work. I was ready to come back. Well, that's a lie. I could have used a few more days, then I would have been ready. But it's ok. I like my work and I love the agency I work for and so coming to work is a feel good thing, not a stress thing.