A Day Not Lost

Barn in Progress








So the field trip turned out to be quite interesting. No bus ride, instead we had a nice walk to (and from) the cemetery, which basically took care of my whole stupid exercise thing for the day. Once there we split up into groups and based on a list of questions from the teacher, who was extremely organized, the students recorded information from various headstones. We looked at families, a captain who fought in the revolution, a mother and her infant who died in childbirth, servants who were buried at the back of the cemetery and spent some time in the section where the town's founding family was buried, including the author James Fenimore Cooper (Last of the Mohicans) and his extended family. The students had been studying graveyards and knew quite a bit about placement of the head and foot stones and how the graves where organized, so I learned quite a bit from them!

I had thought that the field trip would make me lose another day in the studio, as I have had all kinds of interruptions to my work schedule over the last week or so. I haven't minded too much, despite a growing sense of panic at how little time I have to finish up work for the show, because I have been feeling somewhat blocked and have been glad for any excuse to take a break. I managed to do about nine under paintings last Friday, but have felt less than excited about them and then along with the erratic schedule I just haven't been feeling it, you know? So I thought yesterday would be another lost day but I ended up being able to work all afternoon (I didn't have to pick up the kid's until about 5pm) and with a roast in the slow cooker and Doug out of town I had no distractions for five lovely hours. And so I managed to get my groove back and do some work that I am excited about.

Just in the nick of time too, because I only have two weeks until I have to deliver the work for the show in Hudson. Yikes....