artist residency thoughts

 

I am finally starting to get back into the swing of things after being away for 2.5 weeks on what I’m calling Meg’s Big Adventure. I went on my longest ever solo road trip and drove from Detroit to New Jersey, where I had a fun weekend with two of my besties. From there, I drove onward to Middle Gove in upstate New York for a two week long artist residency. 

 

I felt unbelievably anxious about driving so far by myself. I decided to stay in a hotel in Pennsylvania off of I-80 to break up the drive, and I was nervous about that too. I applied to this residency earlier in the year, but when it came time to go it felt crazy to be gone on a solo trip for 2.5 weeks. It was really hard to step away from the day-to-day and allow myself to take this time without it feeling “selfish". 

 

I had been wanting to delve more into a fine art practice, but always found myself working on sewing my own clothes or making products instead. I love those projects, but I kept wondering why I wasn't making time for my art practice when I kept feeling like that's what I wanted to do? I think what I really needed was more quiet time to gather inspiration. Making art requires solitude and silence for the creative transmissions to come through. Doing something new requires me to take the pressure wayyy off and let the thing be what it is instead of needing it to be perfect. I kept wanting to make work to add to my portfolio, but what I really needed was to just make the thing and not let it be that deep. 

 

I had planned to work on a specific project during the artist residency, but it turned out what I actually needed was to slow wayyyy down. My time at Camp Stomping Ground artist residency was nothing short of transformative. I didn’t realize how much I needed time to just relax in nature and unplug! There’s almost no Wi-Fi access at the camp, and I spent very little time on my computer and my phone. 

 

I connected with the other four artists who were there and had so much fun getting to know them and hearing about their creative practices. I got to teach two hours a day to an amazing group of creative teens who were there for summer camp. I had my own cabin and studio space to work in, I had time to do whatever I liked and three meals a day that I didn't have to think about, prepare, or clean up!

 

I spent my days frolicking in the forest, lying in a hammock with a book of Mary Oliver poems, swimming in the creek and the pond, gazing at the stars and the clouds, walking through nature, hanging out with my new friends and working on a quilt project in my studio. I made watercolor dye paints from flowers that I picked at camp and shared some of my favorite natural dye methods with everyone at camp. Being in nature surrounded by the sound of a creek and lots of old, towering trees is something I didn't know I needed. When I touched a mossy rock by the creek and admired all the mossy old tree stumps, I could feel my nervous system resetting. There's truly nothing like it! This is how humans are meant to live!

 

I really thought I would be a lot more productive during the residency, but when I allowed myself to slow down I was able to process so much that I hadn’t allowed myself to in my extremely booked n busy lifestyle. I cried it out and processed a lot of grief from my grandma‘s passing. I had space from my unhealthy habits and thought patterns (re: obsessive people pleasing and negative self talk), and I allowed myself to not worry about productivity for once! 

 

In the end, I made several pieces that I am happy with. I made several small paintings with the plant based watercolor paints I made at camp. I also made a large curtain out of cotton bandanas that I plant dyed, some were examples for my classes and some were dyed by my students and left behind. I made seven quilt squares for another forthcoming quilt. Lastly, I made a small quilt that was representative of the magical grounding elements of Camp Stomping Ground. On my way back I drove 8.5 hours through New York and Canada and made it safely back home in Detroit. 

 

 

I’m trying to dial down my perfectionism and my tendency to overbook myself so that I can create more space and time to just be. So that’s what I’ve been up to. I hope that August has been treating you well and that you've been able to enjoy some time outside.  I am heading to Chicago for a week to housesit for my sister and I’m hoping to be able to connect with some textile artists and friends there while I’m in town. Reply to this email if you wanna hang out :-) or have some Chicago recommendations that I should check out. I’m originally from the suburbs of Chicago, but I haven’t spent a full week there in a long time! thanks for being here sending love.

 

xoxo

Meg