drum roll...

Finally I am ready to say it-----

I have moved from the Big Apple...


to bean town.

Recently one reader said "did you say where you were moving?" and I had not. Partially as I may not have wanted to admit what was happening, partially because it happened so fast that I had yet had time to process it myself, and mainly because I do not want it to affect how people look at me as an artist.
All "kind of" valid reasons.

*not wanting to admit what was happening- I have loved living in Brooklyn and since I have been married it is the longest place we have lived. I built an incredible community of friends and artists in Brooklyn to support and inspire me and am SO sad to leave them.
But maybe the hardest thing to admit to myself was that I am just not a "new yorker." I may love it and I may be SO grateful to have lived there for the 5 years that I did but I also love nature, swimming in lakes, having a porch, having space to be away from my husband in my own house, not having things fall down on me in my apt, not having a 5 minute drive become the most stressful event of my day, the lists goes on.
The truth is that NYC is an AMAZING place to live but it is also a hard place to live, you have everything at your fingertips, but at the same you don't. The stress and energy of the city was very hard on my marriage and very hard on our finances and very hard on me having balance as a human being. So though as an artist I really wanted to be there- I needed to remember that I am not only an artist but I am also a person, a wife, a mama, a yogi, and a Midwestern girl.
*it happened so fast that I had no time to process it myself- My husband pointed out that from the day he got called for his interview and the day we moved it had only been 5 weeks. WOW. We went from having a life that was very settled to a sudden whirlwind of change. For me this was hard for multiple reasons; one being that I had a number of classes, workshops, and commitments lined up so I had to figure out how to either detract myself from them or push the dates so that I could do them or decide that I would come back to the city to fulfill the commitment. I also had a very settled life, routine, and community that I all of a sudden was leaving.

Funnily the first time we moved to Boston (10 years ago) was the same. We had a totally settled happy life and within less than 6 weeks we were no longer in Ohio but Boston. And though that first time we moved it was a VERY hard adjustment from the safe familiar womb of the Midwest to the totally different world of the North East by the time we left the area, for me to attend Graduate School, it truly felt like home. And there has always been a part of me that knew we would end up back here.

*I do not want it to affect how people look at me as an artist.- the big one. I told a friend of mine that if I was not an artist there would be NO reservations attached to this move. But I am an artist so there is. I had it pounded in my head, as so many artists do, that you HAVE to be in NYC to have a career that matters and I bought into it. But I am not sure that I do anymore. I do think it is GREATLY beneficial to have lived in NYC at some point, to have connections in NYC, and to visit often so that you can know what is going on and happening. BUT in the day and age of the Internet your really do not have to live there. You can see most of the shows online, you can do all your communication with galleries, studios, and media on line or phone, and none of my favorite artists (except ms. LB lived their lives there.)
So... I started to see that most of the artists that truly inspire me live elsewhere and maybe that is because of the type of art that I make and love. I love personal work, about the everyday and that is not specific to any place. So maybe this will affect my career, and maybe that will even be in a good way. I am hoping that....
-teaching opportunities on a college level will be more accessible to me. I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do some adjunct teaching.
-Grants will be more accessible as I am not competing against all the artists of the biggest city in the country.
-I will still be teaching in NYC regularly and participating in the Fiber Collective that I began.
-And mostly my time will be less strained and stressed and maybe I can find a bit more focus and balance.

S00000, all in all this has been a crazy last 6 weeks. I am still reeling from it all but I know in my heart that this is better for us. My blood pressure is lower, my space is calmer, and my husband is much happier. So send good vibes my way please and please oh please if any of you readers out there are in the Boston area get in touch I need some cool people in my life, mama and/or artists especially