Monday, September 3, 2012

September

I have always felt a sense of new beginnings with the coming of September, fall, and the start of the new school year. Even though I have no children in school any more, I find it is still the case. And so, I find myself ready to begin anew.

As a first step, I revamped my "schedule." While it is arbitrary, since I need only be concerned with how my actions affect my immediate family members still living with me, I find it a relief to be able to decide on my activities for the day based on a framework. Part of my decisions, too, have involved how active I plan to be in the studio. I have not come to any conclusions about distribution of my artwork, but know that I will be making time for creation on a daily basis.

One thing that helped me was taking a complete break from any artwork. It helped that my husband was on vacation, too. By the end of the time, I found myself anxious to pick up something creative to work on, though I did not eliminate photography from my activities.


We made a short trip to visit Geneva, Illinois, which allowed me to visit both the Fabyn Japanese Garden and the Geneva History Center (Geneva Museums). At the History Center, I was able to view the traveling exhibit "A Celebration of Rural America." It will be there through October. A collection of artwork from the 1920s and 1930s by Regionalist artists, it was inspirational.

 
The Japanese Garden is suffering the effects of the drought, but was still beautiful. It also provided some inspiration, which I expect will show up in some of my future work.

I am continuing my research of the 20th century, and have found myself also exploring some of the history of the 19th century, especially as it affected immigration to the United States. One of the things that strikes me is the change in what and how much Americans, in particular, feel is necessary to a good life. This reflects my concern with sustainability, of course, and will, no doubt, result in output either in artwork or writing.

And so, I am off to explore all these things. Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

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