…with people I care about and who care about me.
This blog/travelog/journal will chart our adventure through reflection, reportage, and artmaking. This is my first entry and I started writing it at home in Buffalo feeling full of gratitude for the people and things I’ve been able share space with over the past 5+ decades. I want to indulge myself in this reflection as I take on a big change in my life and start a job 6500 miles away from my home and the people I care most about. I’m not sure what this blog will become but it needs to start out slow from a place of connection to the people that have cared for me over the years. I just left a job I had for 24 years with people I love working with. I am traveling away from my hometown a place I grew up in and lived most of my life. I’m worried about the distance I will be from Peter my partner in life and art, and my kids that are off doing amazing things on their own. I know that Peter more than anyone has made sacrifices for me to take on this adventure and I don’t want to disappoint him.
Over the past few weeks I have been able to connect with friends and family. Soaking up the company of my 90 year old dad who lives a few blocks from my home. My dad and I regularly get coffee together, paint, run errands, and enjoy a meal at my house with music weekly. I’ve shared food and stories with friends on their front porches, wondered at the stars by their outdoor fires, and looked at a lot of art in NYC with my Art21 crew and in Buffalo at our newly reopened AKG gallery. Recently I have had a lot of coffee with friends (I love coffee) and we have to talked about our world. One of those conversations started with coffee and turned into martinis as the cafe closed and we relocated to the bar across the street. My family gathered together at my sister Lauri’s house to celebrate my new adventure, everybody from my newborn great nephew to my husband, nieces, nephews, brother, sisters, father-in law, uncles, and my dad. They all got together to eat and drink and help build my confidence for my time away, with their support and excitement. My Nichols School colleges and alumni whom I worked with from 1-24 years gather together to celebrate our time together. Kristen my art teaching buddy/ lifelong friend and BFF help organize a heartfelt send off with the help of my partner in art and dear friend Kari, along with Dillon, Barbara, and Maggie all of whom have shaped my time at Nichols. I was able to connect with so many people, all who made time out of a lovely summer day to say goodbye. I ever got to visit with Paul Errickson who came from Poland via Pittsburgh to toast the celebration. The photos below are from the parties and I’m thankful for the prints of their smiling faces that I have been able to bring to KSA in my carry-on. The love I feel from the people that have been part of my daily life is profound. Thank you all. I am finishing writing this from my kitchen table in my house in Saudi Arabia and know that I when left Buffalo and headed for Saudi Arabia (via the Adirondacks and then NYC) full of love.
"Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust", “Love is an action: never simply a feeling” – bell hooks
My friend Elaine talks about astrology all the time and suggested I subscribe to a newsletter that today delivered me this particularly special horoscope
July, 30, 2023 - Libra
Spending time with the individuals we care about most can help us relax and unwind after a difficult day because these people naturally bring out the best in us in every arena. Though we may feel frazzled or overwhelmed, our family and friends see only the good qualities they have come to appreciate within us. Consequently, they encourage us to fulfill our potential where tranquility is concerned by reminding us that we are more than capable of handling any challenge that comes our way. All they ask in return for this gift is our engaged presence, which we can easily provide when we are able to cast off the accumulated stresses of the day at the gentle insistence of those people who wish to enjoy our company. Peace will come easily to you today when you spend time with the people who bring out the best in you.
This is the note I sent to my colleagues, alumni, and students:
Saying goodby to a place that has connected me to important people in my life. My memories of this art room are of sharing it with ambitious student artists who filled the room with big ideas, re-imagined futures, and amazing artwork. I will forever be connected to those of you that shared this space with me and also to the 20 years of Antigravity Club expeditions. Thank you for a wild and adventurous 24 years of art and learning. I am moving onward and upward to a new adventure teaching in the Middle East. I invite you to stay connected to me for I feel connected to you. Send me your artwork, send me a greeting, and follow along on my adventures in teaching @Seeartrun and in my artwork at @virocode. If you are traveling in the region please stop by. Packing and bringing lots of student artwork and gifts. Thank you all for sharing a part of your life with me. I can’t wait to see where we go from here.
The photos below mark the time that I said goodbye; from my classroom, to my dearest family and friends. There are pictures of parties, packing, and a quick stop at treeshores to say goodbye for now to the flora and fauna (who cooks for you now…). We have the amazing treat of being able to see Paloma’s opening in Jersey Boys the night before my flight, and Claudia and Peter joined me at the airport to make sure I was able to check my bicycle with my luggage.
”I think I’m quite ready for an adventure.”
