I have been looking forward to this artist residency since learning I was chosen from the application pool back in February . Drove the 5 hours northwest yesterday and unloaded all of my supplies in the studio, which is an historic barn with concrete floors. Here’s the view from my 2D work table:

The studio is located at Thoreson Farm, an historic farm that is within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore boundaries.

I grew up on a large working farm. I know this kind of solitude. It’s perfect for allowing creativity to bubble up into consciousness. My wise mom, who also grew up on a farm, used to say ‘kids need to get bored to get creative’. Adults do, too, though I would like to substitute ‘solitude’ for ‘bored’.

As I was looking at my supplies and looking around the barn, my eye was drawn to this, just above my workspace:

This is a typical repair in old wood barns. In any old barn, you’ll see places where the owner has cut a piece of metal, many times from a discarded tin, and patched a damaged spot.

Funny, then , that some of the supplies I am working with during the residency are….discarded metal tins.

Working in the studio/barn today felt like home, not like going back to where I grew up, but like coming home to myself, somehow. Reaffirming.