Settled, Yet Unsettled.

Moving from city to city is sometimes easier than moving from left brain to right.

After selling my partnership in Studio C Gallery, I spent the first four months of this year getting my husband moved to his temporary rental in Dallas and being the general contractor for our home improvements in Corpus Christi. During that time I also did all the research of neighborhoods, corresponded with our Dallas real estate agent lined up trips for home viewing, selected and closing on a home. The next two months I contracted work for our Dallas home from afar, and lived in my Corpus Christi home as if I didn't live there, while a parade of real estate possibilities popped in at a moment's notice. The home sold after 34 days on the market (yay!) and I threw myself into packing and moving to join my husband in our new (1907 old) home in the historic district of Dallas. That got me to July.

Lo and Behold, within a month of moving, I caved when our neighborhood needed "just one more" home for the annual home tour for Munger Place Historic District. So the first 10 weeks in my new/old home, I was once again a general contractor while built-ins were designed, a foundation was shimmed, roof installed, walls painted, wooden blinds custom built, solatubes installed, and landscaping was designed... all before the September home tour.

Now October 1 is knocking at my door and I'm about 75% unpacked in the art studio. There are a few issues. One being that these 7½-foot ceilings in my detatched studio (used to be a garage) are just too low for me to fire up my kiln. I have no idea what to do with that, but I don’t need to decide anything for today. For now, I sit here realizing I haven't produced a finished painting since I was overloaded last fall with a list of commissions to complete by Christmas. I miss losing myself in my right brain. My left brain has been on overload for nine months gestation, and it’s not so easy to switch. Yesterday I walked in the studio to get prepared for a workshop next week and I suddenly felt a tiny birthing of creative desire to immerse myself in my artwork. But today, after hours of juggling reference photos and value sketches in an attempt to select the ones I need for next week, I discover how very hard it is to leave the left brain. I hope this is dilemma short lived… I miss painting.