ScrapFest is over and this week I can finally focus on getting ready for the artist’s residency. Two weeks, a cabin, no running water or electricity, and an outhouse—all in exchange for two uninterrupted weeks of making art in one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the state. Fair game.

Piles are piling up—clothes, food, art supplies, safety equipment (including every imaginable format of bug spray, bear, and people spray). Art supplies will trump all if I can’t fit it everything in my car. I’ve never been to summer camp, but this looks like it’s about right.

So, what’s the point of all of this? I’m honestly not sure yet. I’m hoping to really SEE the upper peninsula and capture some essence, larger or small. I’m hoping to sketch, write, paint, notate and just see where these processes lead. I’m hoping to crack through to some deeper level—one that really speaks about the area, but also to where I find my motivation, my true connection with art, my justification for the choices I’ve made my whole life in favor of a lifestyle and pursuit that feels genuine and, I’ve always hoped, valuable in some degree. Might be a lot to ask, but two weeks alone seems like a good way to start.

I am taking water-based oils, poetry books/notebooks, gouache, pencils of all sorts, and some clay, canvasses and sundry substrates. I have NO idea what I’ll be drawn to observe or record/interpret. I just can’t wait to get to work.