Down South, and kinda like it.
I returned to the US in a whirlwind. A visit with a friend in New York City outside of JFK airport, a quick stay with an old friend in Jacksonville, Florida, a sweet wedding in Asheville, North Carolina, a visit to my sister in a cabin in Elijay, Georgia....and that was the first 5 days back.
And after all of that, I needed to boogie down to Florida to set-up a studio and get to work. I decided that in July, I would travel the west coast to participate in a series of Renegade Craft Shows, so I needed to stock up. A series of events led me to Studio 209 in Thomasville, Georgia.
It's a perfect place for me, and this is a total surprise. I'm growing fonder of being in an area I never thought I would return to. I love my family and friends here, and the idea would come to my mind over the years, but then I would go for a visit and as fast as the idea came to me, it flew out the window and I retreated back to Brooklyn and back to the drawing board.
The opportunity to have extended traveling time has changed me. I don't feel trapped by places, because I can see that I can go away, experience new people and places, and return and quiet back down, work in my studio. That is the life I want. A studio life/travel life/gardening life/old truck with a dog life.
And someday I will have that. But in less than a month, I will pack up my 1999 Jeep Cherokee and drive west for a whole new adventure.