Our annual week-long vacation at the lake is now over.
We absolutely love the choice we made a couple of years ago to simply have quiet weeks away reading books, making art and poking around in used book stores or check out a couple of local sites instead of spending it running around only to arrive home again even more tired than when we left.
During our time away, I read Stan and Gus: Art, Ardor, and the Friendship that Built the Gilded Age by Henry Wieneck, which got me thinking: I have been to Trinity Church in Boston multiple times but I cannot remember actually going inside and both Standford White and Augustus Saint-Gaudens worked on it. Basil and I now have a mini Boston trip planned sometime in the fall to visit inside Trinity Church as well as stopping in to view the John Singer Sargent murals and the Boston Public Library across the street.
I also read We Need Your Art: Stop Messing Around and Make Something by Amie McNee. For any artist looking for some inspiration to get out of a creative rut or work on their artist block, this is an amazing book.
I have issues with both from time to time and McNee’s ideas, prompts and projects are extremely helpful identifying issues and getting back on track. The chapters on procrastination, perfectionism and burnout especially hit home for me and the suggestion of starting a two-week challenge to jump-start your work habits is one of the big things I will be trying to incorporate into my weekly art life.
If you have a chance, please check it out:
We spent time every day doing at least a little bit of art. Some things worked, some didn’t, and that’s OK. The point is: art was being done:
We spent an afternoon looking at local covered bridges, unfortunately there were not a lot of places for Basil to pose on this trip, but we will work on some ideas for the next one:
On our way back to the cottage, we stopped in at Yankee Farmer’s Market in Warner, NH for some bison steaks. We had tried bison when we visited Wyoming years ago and this was an opportunity to try it again. We had a great experience, unfortunately we didn’t see any bison, but were greeted on our way out by a couple of friendly goats:
Our vacation property this year had a great little beach, which Basil enjoyed:
We are already thinking about where to visit next year and dreaming about another quiet week!
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