(originally published august 25, 2022 via my Buy Me A Coffee page)

Not gonna lie, there's a little bit of pressure mounting as I sit here at the more than halfway mark. Five weeks to go! I'm starting to finalize and glue down a few of the collage paintings I've been working on. One of the walls is being filled up with small, quick sketchbook paintings, and I've started playing around with larger (16" x 20") works on paper. I've been adding gallery visits and private studio visits and art show openings to the calendar, as well as prepping for this next step in my career during my monthly Artist Coaching meetings with SKM Advising. I'm trying to hold tight to the care-free days of the first month, but art is both a part of me and very much my job - so the work continues.

Since moving to my Jersey City Airbnb about a week ago, my studio days have started a little later and are lasting into the early evenings - my most natural time to create. I'm doing my best to adequately revel in the subtle impending change of season, but it's still difficult for my brain to understand that fall is soon on its way here, unlike the Texas summer that lasts until the final weeks of October. Thankfully though, my new commute is less than a 40 minute walk, so I can slow down the pace of life a bit and watch while the sun from golden hour hits the building and the many empty warehouses around me. Jersey City is quite slow (in comparison to NYC) and outside of downtown, the landscape is not as inspiring as Manhattan or Brooklyn, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm seeing this time and new environment as a moment to catch my breath and give my thoughts the space and pace they need.

A fresh take towards this experience is coming, and I'm with open arms, ready to embrace it.

Here's another recap of week 6 :

Til the next one.

-A