Half Way There

There is an old proverb that says a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. At that first step there is the resolve, the starter's gun is fired and it's high ho, silver ,.... away! It is farther down the road that the doubts creep in like snakes hissing at you. Why did you ever start this. It's never going to happen! Nine hundred miles behind you and there's nothing on the horizon!

Ten years ago, I packed up my studio and waved good-bye to the last of my students. I was leaving Chicago because I had fallen in love with an acre of old growth woods. Most of my art supplies went into a storage unit until the studio would be finished.

A decade has come and gone. With it, a lot of life has happened. Earlier this year, the storage unit was emptied. It was an archaeological dig of my creative life up to 2002. The journey was bittersweet. This studio is a very different space than I have ever had before. As an artist, I have grown. Where do I put the electronics? How bad is the pastel dust for them? Where do I set up the printer, not to mention all the chemicals that go with that process? Theses are question that are taking longer than I would have thought to answer.

First things first, drawing table and the easel are set up. My pastels have been laid out. The artist is in residence- working! I'm only half way to having the studio set up, but for the first time in way too long, I have hope. There, on the horizon is a glimmering place. It isn't a mirage!