Settling In…

Oklahoma Ruin © 2011 Michelle Basic Hendry (photo)

After over 6 months of domestic upheaval, it would appear that things are finally beginning to settle down. The studio is almost ready and the idea of packing, unpacking and moving from one temporary location to another is receding into the recent past. I recommend selling one’s house before committing to a cross-border move, but I will not lie and suggest that doing so eliminates all of the problems. When I look back over everything, I sometimes wonder how I managed to survive it. And of course, one might say it is typical that I move South and they get lower than normal temperatures! Let’s hope we don’t find those lost degrees in June!

But we are here.

I am hoping that for the new year, a sort of rhythm will return to the blog and the newsletter – and my life! Living so close to Oklahoma City means I’ll get to introduce my northern readers to the OKC Museum of Art and the art scene here in Oklahoma; as well as the neighbouring states of Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico from a resident’s point of view.

I am also sure many of you will recognize the old and the new patterns that will lead up to a new series of my own paintings faster than I will and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

True to form, though, I open with an Oklahoma ruin (some of you may have caught it on Facebook!). I am hoping to secure an invitation to a nearby ranch to visit a family homestead on 16,000 acres (small by Oklahoma standards) – that has me very excited! So we’ll see where things go.

Before the end of the month, it will be entertaining to review 2011 in detail. My list of goals ended up quite out of sync with what ended up happening! And yet, the spirit of them, the idea of moving forward, ended up going well beyond anything I would have imagined a year ago… The goals for 2012 will be modest in comparison, but I think it will make for the best year yet!

Now back to very last of the tidying up!