Creativity returns in 2022
The relaxed pace of my life these past two winters has been a real contrast to the decades of insanely busy winters that preceded them. Formerly, the holiday rush segued into the “getting ready for the Baltimore show” rush resulting in almost no down time from December through February. Covid ushered in a new reality where retail shows were canceled and many of the galleries that had been ordering my work closed for good. I still had a lot of the inventory that I had made just before Baltimore 2020 and it was hard to get inspired to make new work knowing that the opportunities to sell my work had vastly changed. 
For us, the upside of the pandemic was that we really enjoyed the company of our grown sons who moved back home for awhile to wait out the pandemic. As a family, we cooked (and ate!), spent time out on the water in our various human powered boats, we took a lot of walks in the spring, summer and fall and during the winter months we went skiing, skating or snowshoeing most days. Dark winter days drifted by, one much like the next. I had no problem with keeping up with orders from my website and Artful Home, but I just couldn’t seem to get motivated to do any new work.
A trip to Acadia National Park in Maine in the spring of 2021 was a good jump start for my creativity. The wave lashed cliffs and stony headlands have long been great sources of inspiration for me.
I took a lot of pictures and communed with lots of rocks and then waited for all of that good input to “ferment” like a good wine.
Finally, with the help of a New Year’s resolution, I plunged back into doing creative work in the studio in January 2022. As much as I miss the excitement of the ACC Baltimore show, I don’t miss the stress of the show prep. This year I have been delighting in allowing my creative process to flow in an environment completely free of pressure. I can work normal hours instead of flat out for weeks on end. I look forward to sharing with you the results of my efforts soon!
