interesting interlude

Yellowstone: spring 2025

This is a process post.  It's helpful for me to document my creative process.  There are clear patterns and by documenting my process, I am much more likely to trust the process.

ONE: I had ELEVEN, solid weeks in the studio.  See previous post, On Being Boring.  I had just been sharing with a friend how healthy and energetic I had been feeling over these past eleven weeks.

TWO: And then, on the eve of March 25, I got a migraine.  If you are familiar with migraines, you know that migraine days vanish.  I had five days of a migraine.  And they vanished.

In retrospect, I think this migraine was the result of all the deadlines associated with THIS, wrapping up.

In early February, I had purchased a plane ticket to Bozeman, MT to potentially meet up with Peter who was planning on taking a week to ski Montana. I had an agenda of my own: visit my "home away from home", Chico Hot Springs and road trip to Yellowstone National Park.

early morning soak (with coffee)

THREE: I had a WONDER-filled trip! I was filled to the brim with all the wonder of POSSIBILITY.

East River Road

FOUR: My travel home was an extensive 21 hours - VERY unexpected.  I flew everywhere except for where I was supposed to.  I could have just driven! And then I could have gone to Theodore Roosevelt National Park! but... I digress.  I really trust the process and want to trust the process around this too. AND Airport/ air travel particularly exhausts me so this was EXTRA EXTRA exhausting.

FIVE: I had enough umph to visit the Walker, a new installation by Petrit Halilaj - magical! and attend a birthday party on Saturday night (it's important that I prioritize this particular family for my quality of life)

SIX: I did have two, full studio days the following week and finished my thirteenth painting of 2025

you can go your own way, 36x48

SEVEN: I kind of crashed.  No, I REALLY crashed, AGAIN, on Wednesday and spent all day resisting it while getting NOTHING DONE. And this is not really true as I did organize two upcoming classes I have AND picked up supplies.

EIGHT: I surrendered to being worn out and did administrative work that had been on my list for so long. It's so funny - I am so funny - When I am painting in my studio, I always wonder when I will EVER have time for the admin stuff... DO I NEED TO wear myself down to in order to make time for this?  I HOPE NOT.  Something I had given up on in 2019, came together on Thursday.  I now have an e-commerce site for my 2025 work!

NINE: It's Friday and I am still worn out.  This week, I have gone to bed at 8pm (it's still light outside) and have slept heavily through the night.  Last night was the first night I slept more lightly.  I take this as a sign I am coming out of it.  

I have an event with a friend I planned months ago tonight and then I teach Sunday and Monday.  

I will aim for a fresh studio start on Tuesday, April 15 (exactly four weeks prior to Art A Whirl).

And...then...SUMMER CAMPS!

Thank you for reading!

Contact me anytime via email at karimaxwell@mac.com 

post script: Word of mouth is my most successful form of advertisement to date. Always feel free to forward my work along to those who may enjoy or be interested in collecting. Thank you.