(The above picture is what I painted while in my tent during a deluge at a Bar Harbor show. All the other artists, except my friend Lori Davis a wonderful wild life photographer, had packed up and headed home….but I stayed dry, sipped my tea and painted…)
For the past several days I have been working on developing strategies to keep my business viable this year. What I have come up with is creating whopaints Gallery in the Garden. As part of this, I decided to put up my show tent. I love my show tent. I hate my show tent…
I fall into bed, its been a long, long day. The energy gained from the one mind emptying moment, that quiet, focus on drinking tea, spell before a hurricane of activity must ensue, has long since drained away. After tea, car arrangements begin. Dragging from the depths of storage the long heavy tent polls, the steal lengths that hold down the mesh walls and 4 35lb weights which will anchor this home away from home of mine, I pile this all beside my not all that big car. Heaving up shifting 4 foot lengths aluminum tubing onto the Kayak rack, no it is not for rest and relaxation, it is for carrying this load to my first show of the year.
Organizing which pictures to take, do I have all their labels? Where are the hooks? The receipt pads? the pins, the clips, the ‘s’ hooks that help hold this temporary home together? Oh and the lawn stakes! The hammer …Oh no I forgot the show is in Bar Harbor, we can not use lawn stakes. We just have to hope the 35 lb weights are enough.
(And then there was the year they weren’t and one after another tents flipped when an unexpected storm blew in from somewhere.)
Paintings carefully wrapped and stashed. The biggest ones first then others tucked in and around the containers of tent sides. Here’s to hoping nothing shifts going over bumpy, twisty roads of the Mud Creek Road.
The day is gone. The car, packed. Oh what did I forget? Check lists checked through dinner. Clothes laid out for the 4 AM shower. Will I sleep tonight?