How did you get here?

I was dropping my car off today to get it repaired and the gentleman that was helping me said "Tell me about you. I see by your phone number from you are you came here from Northern Virginia, how did you get here?"

I thought, that is indeed the question isn't it?

Buying a house in Gloucester County five years ago feels like the mash up of all my various lives I have lived in the past: NASA brat, island dweller, ranch kid, suburban teen, DC sale pro, juggling mom, frustrated creative, entrepreneur, beach seeker.

Coastal Virginia was accessible to boring middle ages things like hospitals and airports but it was also accessible to acreage and the Chesapeake Bay. Gardens to take care of, scenery to paint, cities to visit, museums to explore, friends to entertain and enough room for the family to come visit and all be together. 

So now I am a living by the water creative. Still searching because pandemic shutdown cramped my friend making style while trying to find my way in this rural yet sophisticated community.

I had no knowledge of this place before we moved here. We fell in love with the house and the land. We've been blessed with great neighbors and expat friends. We are in the country but accessible to the city. I joke that the 20 miles to the Target is faster to get to than the one that was 5 miles away when I lived inside the DC beltway.

Moving has changed the pace of my live. It has changed my art. 

There is a lot more blue because of the influence of the water. 

I have the ability to take my time with things because I have more room to let them sit and dry or let me just sit and stare at them.

Not owning a brick and mortar gallery shop makes me miss my people: my clients, my artists, my pickers.  But it has given me space to work on things that are not what is expected and that has led me to grow as an artist. 

I am much more game to try new things. I have received commissions and opportunities I would have never dreamed of five years ago. 

Can't wait to see what happens next.

 Today is Day 9 of #the100day project where I am attempting to write 100 days straight.

                                                            Thanks for following along.