Summer's End

My 2013 6 month show tour has officially ended.  Wow.  Thank you.  Truly, I am filled with gratitude for each person I saw, met, spoke with.  Each person who smiled, laughed, commented, purchased, brought me a drink, a snack, had my family over to dinner, gave hugs and advice, even the couple who left me slightly flabbergasted by an unkind remark.  Oh and the person who audibly farted in the booth.  You too.  You all make my life interesting and full.  I am so grateful.  
 
And when we get down to the nuts and bolts of it, all of you who purchased something- big and small- you all help to keep this artist working.  You help to keep a small business afloat.  You allow an artist family to survive and pay their bills- the mortgage, the health insurance, the braces, the shoes that their kids keep growing out of too quickly.  You also help me to be a better parent, partner, and friend- because if I wasn't able to do this thing I do - to create and vent out the pictures and stories that flood my head and heart with color and chatter- if I was not able to get it all out, I'm not sure what kind of person I'd be.  I do not take for granted that you all are a part of my sanity.  My family thanks you too. 

As commonly happens at the end of "show season", this introvert is left with a lot to process.  I tend to hole up for a while.  I often don't answer my phone, or emails.  I spend time in the garden, in the woods, cleaning the studio, cooking tomatoes, sweeping 6 months worth of dust buffalo out from under the kitchen table.  I will do that now.   I will let seep into my soul the kindnesses, the wide open world, the full moons rising over trees in various cities, the pictures that came to me in dreams, the snippets of stories that sparked my consciousness during the long drives.  I'll let sink in the many days of missing my family, the days of having to be both parent and producer, the stress I'm sure I spilled over onto my kids and spouse in the process.  I'll look at it all and plan how I'll do it better next year.  Always I hope for another opportunity to do it again and better next year.  I will keep creating these picture stories because I can't not.  And I will think of you all and thank you for helping me keep this going.