For Easter vacation I was initially planning to travel to Denver to visit friends, take in a few art and music venues and embrace the experience of a road trip in all of it magic. However, no trip in any direction from Fort Pierre goes unplanned due to traveling on the prairie in the early spring. I decided to stay home when I heard a snow storm was in the forecast and instead continued a bedroom renovation project I started a few weeks ago.
The front bedroom has been in transition since my dad passed away in June. We had planned to make repairs, repaint and replace the carpet in my dads room while he was still living, but moving him to a new space in our home was not as important as providing him comfort and eliminating any kind of change along with his regular dialysis treatment. My dad remained happy in his own home till his death at the age of 84 on June 8, 2017. He survived my mom who died at the age of 73 on July 5, 2012.
DIY renovation projects are always more complicated and expensive than originally planned, especially when you have only a few friends helping. In the last week, we've ripped out the carpet, resurfaced and primed the drywall, and demolished the 1/2 bathroom. My mom and dad would be proud of the work we've done to preserve their home and I feel so lucky to be living in a space I grew up in.
After accomplishing the renovation tasks, I set aside the last day of vacation to create my website and write its first blog post. Sadly, it's taken 4 years to complete my website. Early on I had the best intentions, but wasn't clear who I was as an artist. Clearly, I wasn't ready to promote myself as a working artist since dedicating the last 4 years as an at-home-caregiver for my elderly dad and working full time as an art teacher in a new school district. Stepping out of the role as a caregiver to a life that is more independent is not as easy as it seems, although I feel more grounded than I ever have.
Creating a website is a daunting task, although web-hosting sites have made the job less so for a tech savvy creative. I'm the webmaster of my own site, which gives me the freedom to add and edit content to my heart's desire so that I can communicate freely to viewers. I wanted to create a space that would allow me to share my photographic work and log my progress in creating new works. In the past, I've been motivated in capturing the natural world that surrounds me, people who inspire me and structures that tell stories of the past. That motivation still holds true, although life experiences have steered me in unexpected directions in telling new stories with different tools and mediums. Today, I begin sharing a new journey in my creative process! Welcome!