The last couple of months have gone by so incredibly fast.
In mid August my website hit a couple of snags and this catalyst began a journey of introspection and change that I couldn’t have forecast, and don’t regret. What a domino effect it began.
I went to Willow Folk Festival and began a sequence of life-motions that built inertia, pushing now well into October. I saw a month ahead of me at that point that was solidly booked for every weekend with living history events, an art show, a website revamp, and several other obligations. Clearly, I over committed.
The first living history event was scheduled right after Labor Day. It was canceled due to covid concerns and for me, it was a blessing. It gave me a free weekend. Preparation for the next event, an art show, can take weeks – especially when you’re working full time and the time you can spend on it is nights and weekends. I leaned into final framing preparation for the art show.
By mid September I was setting up for the Greenwich Village art fair. It was a wonderful event and a first time for me doing an outdoor art fair like this in the town where I live. The audience, too, was a huge change since it was to the general public as opposed to the living history community that knew me. I saw such a variety of people from my various careers here in Rockford and felt like it was the perfect intersection.
So many people didn’t know I was an artist, or only remembered me in the graphic arts industry. Then there were those who only know me as a librarian. Amazing – and I even won an honorable mention ribbon and award for my body of work.
I didn’t get to rest on my laurels for long because within 4 days I was heading to Minnesota with my husband for a living history event he was contracted for. I had a great deal of fun there too but the speed and strain on this introvert for an extended period was difficult.
The evolution is now fully in motion. The new sales gallery is running online, things are unpacked and stowed, and I’m back into routines. The bottom line, however, is I hadn’t painted since the 2nd week in August when I was at the folk festival.
I’ve had people contact me for commissions that I haven’t been able to start and I have needed to let my emotional processing catch up with my schedule. Now my day work is settling back into a good pattern and knew I needed to sit down at the board again.
It feels good to once again be started down the path to a new adventure. Or perhaps not a new adventure, but a revitalization of my prescribed life path. I can’t predict where I’m going to go, or how I will evolve, but I am truly excited now at the prospect of the motion and what new discoveries they will afford.
While at Willow I enjoyed watching a man create huge soap bubbles that floated slowly over the camps of the musicians. True to my lifetime love of bubbles, I was both enamored and renewed at the magic of them. Today’s painting, close to being done perhaps, is a 20″ x 20″ oil on canvas of a “Bubble Rising”.
Join me if you will. I’m sure we will have great fun together.
Kelly E. James 