giving thanks

Thanksgiving will be a bit different for me this year. There will still be turkey, and dressing and cranberry sauce. I will gather with my friends this year instead of immediate family—although I consider them my “Nashville family”—and watch football and eat and drink too much, I am sure. There are also plans to get together on Friday for leftovers and visit with some dearly missed friends who will be in town. But this year, there will be a lot of time that will not be filled with family or friends or festivities. I will have a lot of time to myself. To work on a few personal projects, watch movies, cook, and just have some down time. This time alone is what I am most thankful for this year. Not because I don’t want to be around others, or because I even necessarily have to spend any time alone. It is because I have finally reached a place in my life where this is not a sad or difficult thing... to be alone some during a holiday... and to not be lonely at all. I am thankful to be where I am in my life, even if it is not quite where I wanted to be. And I am grateful for the strength and healing that God has given me.

I hope everyone enjoys the time they have with their loved ones gathered around, and the time you may have by yourself. Sending love and gratitude to all of those who are in my life and those who are no longer here. Happy Thanksgiving!

a long time coming...

I posted back in August about the flooding, luckily minor flooding, that happened in my garage/studio, and that it caused me to get my space reorganized and cleaned up. I also mentioned that during the clean up process my worktable had finally given in and had enough. This prompted me to begin the search for something more than two tables pushed together and held tight with kraft paper!

The truth is I have been on this search for years. Long before I married E, moved into the house and slowly began to convert half the garage into studio space, I had been on this search. It began when I saw a table in a picture of a letterpress studio and I knew this was the perfect kind of table for me too. Plenty of flea markets, garage sales, odd furniture stores and online searches later, and still, nothing. In most cases, my lack of patience would have swayed me to just buy any table that would work, but I have learned that sometimes waiting for what I know is just right is a better option. Because the luxury of time was no longer available, and finding this perfect table was not happening, what else does a girl do but go to her daddy to see if HE can build it! My dad is not only handy, but also creative, and when it comes to solving something, well he is your man! It took a few hours of wandering around Lowe’s to find all that we needed, and then only a few more to get it put together. And before I knew it, years of waiting were over. This in itself is a great feeling, but having my father help me with it makes it even better! Trust me, I know that it may not be as complex or fancy as some out there, so why do I love it so much? Well, it is the perfect height for ME, it rolls, plenty of storage underneath, long enough to have multiple projects going at once, it is simple and utilitarian, and it was built specifically for me by someone who believes in everything that I will create here. Yep, I was right about this one—waiting was the better option.

keep going

Flat Press Studio "Keep Going" print, silkscreen on found map

The last few weeks have been so hectic I have hardly had extra space in my head to work on any posts! We go through phases at the museum that become so overwhelmingly busy, it is hard enough to get the work for that day done, much less anything else that may be on the list. This will continue well into next year, so I have to just mentally prepare myself to keep my head down and stay focused. It somehow always gets done.

But work has not been the only thing keeping me busy. There has been plenty of live music, friends in town, and beautiful Fall weather to get in the way too. However, all of those things have helped me keep my life balanced.