Travel wakes the soul

Something always happens when I travel. It's like I am shaken loose of the walls that I wan't even cognizant of, keeping me in some sort of neat package of day to day sameness. Not only did I experience art - saturating myself with as much as humanly possible (on a very tight schedule), but I also experienced the people through playing music. I began my travels in Paris, Copenhagen, and London where I met up with Jeff Pevar and we went on to Italy for our duet tour. In Copenhagen I was fortunate enough to meet some of the Danish family that I had not yet met and I fell in love with them. I am so excited to return, it was like coming home, truly. 

Jeff Pevar and I played duet shows in Florence, Milan, Venice & Rome. The grand finale to the trip was in Rome at one of their most famous Blues clubs, Big Mamas, with several very talented Italian musicians sitting in with us. When I returned I immediately returned to my studio and produced this painting (above) the first week, and began a new sculpture that is still in the works (I will post that later!). I have two new sculptures that I have just completed in bronze as well!

The experience of being immersed in art and music everyday was overwhelming - I think I am still processing all of it. Upon our return, we have had 4 events this month. Including 3 concerts, an art exhibition, and open studio tour weekend at Enclāve Studios. I am also preparing for an exhibition of my bronze sculptures in Palo Alto, CA, at Bryant Street Gallery in the Spring. In the midst of all of this, Jeff and I are recording an album. This week we finished recording one of our newest songs. I guess when it rains creativity, it POURS. I feel so grateful for the opportunity to create in all these different ways and bring a little joy to this strange world. Our lives teeter on the edge of something new and different at all moments, I am attempting to squeeze every last bit out of life as I know how fleeting it is, and how one can be so "busy" as to rarely savor what IS.