Planning the Trip Back

Well the plan is to head out on the 27th. The moving van is supposed to get here on the 26th.

My first night I will be in Louisville, KY staying with Meg Wilburn who I know from Port Townsend, WA. I have never been in Kentucky so this will be interesting. My next night will be somewhere in the great borings...Kansas.

Next stop is in Loveland, CO to meet Nancy Zoller in person. She is a potter on wholesalecrafts.com. The next leg is a stay over in Park City, UT where I stayed on my way here. I'll be staying with Rita and Craig Miller. Their daughter is married to Bob Parrish's nephew. I met them when they were vacationing in Port Townsend.

Next stop is to see my nephew Marlen and his wife Dayna and their two sweet boys in southern Idaho.

I'll have one more night in a motel somewhere in eastern Washington on the last night and should arrive in Port Townsend by April 4th. Phew!

There may be an extra day on the road if I decide to take a break at some point.

I have some wiggle room.

Packing up all my "treasures", photo albums, office, studio, kitchen etc...it appears I have very little clothes or furniture and lots of art!

Since I am renting the house I will be moving into I can see I will have to haul all this stuff again if I find a place to buy in the future! Maybe I will find a way to let go of some of my stuff!

I just took a quick trip to Sevierville, TN as my sister Ronnie, her husband Mark and their son and granddaughter were staying there on vacation. I also wanted to meet Billi Rothove in person. She and I have been friends via the internet and phone for several years...another wholesalecrafts.com artist.

TN is beautiful where it hasn't been ruined by commercial development.

I got to meet my great neice for the first time. Charlie is bright, outgoing and full of life.

Billi took me to see a gallery that carries my work in Gatlinburg, The J. Alan Gallery and to see Arrowmont School where she ran several of their galleries. It is a beautiful area.

Today I pack some more and this evening I will be going into Asheville to spend a night on the town with Liz Dickinson. She has been helping me part time in the studio.

Life is Change

Sweet Kitchen

The view from the 2nd Floor

Ruth's New Home and Studio starting in April

Studio is in the ground level

Three Ravens at Sunset Mirror

New Tile Design

After many months of feeling conflicted I have decided to move back to Port Townsend, WA. It has been difficult decision. I've been living out in the country in Horse Shoe, NC sharing a studio and home with Jim Whalen, Paradox Pottery. Working and living along side of another artist has been a great adventure.

The landscape is beautiful. The summers are hot and humid. I wilt!

I miss Port Townsend, my dear friends there, the cool summers, and my 2 sons. Even though Evan and Tucker are grown up and I know I won't see a lot of them it is nice to know that we could see each other if we wanted or needed to.

I miss the water and the great local, bountiful organic food.

I have not been posting for a long time. I have felt withdrawn, stuck and depressed and less myself.

I had this vision that I could move to NC to be with Jim and rebuild much of what I had in Port Townsend. Not so! So I have had to choose between the two and that has been very hard.

So here I am looking at all this stuff I am so attached to...lots of artwork, a collection of art tiles, big ceramic pots, my office, studio equipment etc and I have to pack it all up again!!

I have some things that will not come back with me but mostly this stuff I call my treasures will.

I am faced with another cross country drive. I'll take a slightly different route this time and look forward to the magic of being on the road......again!

After getting the studio up and running my next order of business will be planting the garden. So dear friends plant a few extra seedlings for me so I can transplant them into my new garden space. If you are thinning perennials I'll take them!

I have a sweet small house with space for a studio in Port Townsend that will become my new home. It comes furnished so getting set up will be easy. My focus will be on the studio when I arrive. I need to get that up and running so I can make my living. My landlord is having 240 electric receptacles installed inside for my bisque kiln and outside for my raku kiln. I will need to build a shelter for the raku kiln to keep it dry and to protect me from the wind while I am firing.

Work has been steady all year and I am grateful to continue to make a living as an artist in these difficult times. I seem to be recession proof. A few of the galleries I have been in for years have folded but new ones also are being opened. I love shipping my work all over the country. If is a great blessing to be able to live where I want and be able to ship the work to the places where there are people who "get" what I am doing.

I do feel supported.