January-what a strange month! A new year, new beginnings and yet for us, it's a wind down from the frantic two months of November and December!
As professional artists, Steve and I tend to work, work, work when the orders and deadlines are there and when January comes, we continue on a roll until about the second week. Then it stops. Obviously the orders slow down and that's good :-) We have our bills handled through February so the pressures slackens a bit. And that is good as it is our "Recharging" time!
So what do we do? Do we attend art functions, concerts, art galleries, art groups in the city? No. We stay away from crowds and traffic and head further into the countryside where we can drive, stop and walk and absorb :-)
We live on the outskirts of Raleigh NC and several small towns in between on a mini farm along with 5 dogs, 2 ponies and a pygmy goat. The 4 kids are on their own now :-). So when in the past our "Adventuring" included them, now it's the two of us and that is fine....although I discovered that driving and exploring with kids makes adults get out of the car more frequently!
We always have a camera of some sort with us on these trips to recharge-our phones, our professional cameras....whatever, but you never know when the light on a sycamore branch will catch your eye-or the setting of farm animals, the curve in a road or an old building. I decided just to add some of our traveling images from the other day below so you can see what I am chatting about-images for the brain and food for our creativity.From the many types of animals we meet to the surprises we find while walking the woods!
Sometimes you really do have to stop and get out of the car and see what small treasures await your discovery of them. Taking the time to really absorb what you are seeing is part of the intuitive nature of an artist. Make sure you make the time to recharge your visual needs!
As professional artists, Steve and I tend to work, work, work when the orders and deadlines are there and when January comes, we continue on a roll until about the second week. Then it stops. Obviously the orders slow down and that's good :-) We have our bills handled through February so the pressures slackens a bit. And that is good as it is our "Recharging" time!
So what do we do? Do we attend art functions, concerts, art galleries, art groups in the city? No. We stay away from crowds and traffic and head further into the countryside where we can drive, stop and walk and absorb :-)
We live on the outskirts of Raleigh NC and several small towns in between on a mini farm along with 5 dogs, 2 ponies and a pygmy goat. The 4 kids are on their own now :-). So when in the past our "Adventuring" included them, now it's the two of us and that is fine....although I discovered that driving and exploring with kids makes adults get out of the car more frequently!
We always have a camera of some sort with us on these trips to recharge-our phones, our professional cameras....whatever, but you never know when the light on a sycamore branch will catch your eye-or the setting of farm animals, the curve in a road or an old building. I decided just to add some of our traveling images from the other day below so you can see what I am chatting about-images for the brain and food for our creativity.From the many types of animals we meet to the surprises we find while walking the woods!
 |
| Boer goat mama and baby |
 |
| cow |
 |
| Belgian draft horses |
 |
| Great Pyrenees herd guards |
 |
| Lady Slipper |
 |
| abandoned home |
 |
| Amazing sunrises from our studio porch |
 |
| The geometric curves of a plowed field |
 |
| A hidden waterfall and pond off the beaten track |
 |
| We do indeed take the road less traveled! |
