Le Sigh {...read about this artist's daily routine...}
As the world around me here in East Tennessee awaits the first “polar vortex” of the season (coming next week), I find myself scheduling time to haul our beautiful potted olive tree inside, as well as a large, well established French lavender, a David Austin Rose, and a potted peony bush. All of it must be brought in before the winds howl any worse. I’m also attempting to plan for the inevitable time spent indoors. And I learned something about myself that I didn’t know before:
Turns out, I like my hot chai tea brewed so strong, that my lips tingle. I never knew. After a lifetime of sipping what must have been insipid chai. True story.
Anyway. I have a big show coming up March 1-3, and there are still some ideas I want to hash out on canvas.
As synchronicity would have it, I stumbled across a few descriptions of the routines of various artists. One in particular caught my attention - the routine of sculptor Anne Truitt - best known for her hand-hewn, then painted wood columns. Listen as she describes her typical day during a brief time she spent at an artist’s colony, one long-ago summer in New York:
“I have settled into the most comfortable routine I have ever known in my working life. I wake very early and, after a quiet period, have my breakfast in my room: cereal, fruit, nuts, the remainder of my luncheon Thermos of milk, and coffee. Then I write in my notebook in bed. By this time, the sun is well up and the pine trees waft delicious smells into my room. My whole body sings with the knowledge that nothing is expected of me except what I expect of myself. I dress, do my few room chores, walk to the mansion to pick up my lunch box (a sandwich, double fruit, double salad—often a whole head of new lettuce) and Thermos of milk, and walk down the winding road to my Stone South studio.
At noon, I stop working, walk up through the meadow to West House, have a reading lunch at my desk, and nap. By 2:30 or so I am back in the studio. Late in the afternoon, I return to my room, have a hot bath and dress for dinner. It is heavenly to work until I am tired, knowing that the evening will be effortless. Dinner is a peaceful pleasure. Afterward I usually return to my solitude, happy to have been in good company, happy to leave it. I read, or write letters, have another hot bath in the semidarkness of my room, and sink quietly to sleep.”
I mean…just hush. The world has to know the beauty that would rush out of me, if this was my “typical day”. (I’d like to believe that, anyway!) It sounds too amazing to be true. But that’s how she lived, at least for a time.
You’d imagine, what with this so-called “empty nest” of mine, that my routine could be as close to that as I would ever be able to get at any other season of life, but you’d be imagining wrong. Still, I have a great deal more sovereignty over my time, state of mind, and schedule than I used to - and so if my creative work-time is not what I’d like it to be, the fault is entirely with me.
Time spent in the context of this Kingdom of God in which I function is a given. Literally, it is a given. (The Preacher is in full time ministry - I am not. I need to create for a living. It is often assumed that a pastor’s wife’s time is sort of thrown in for free, alongside her husband, and it is. I’m one of his most able assistants. However. I am very careful to have healthy permissions as well as healthy boundaries around all this. That’s a whole other conversation, though, isn’t it? )
I do not have access to a maid or a lunch-maker. And though I would love to spend an hour or so each day in the company of pleasant others - that hour always slides into more and more time, and I always feel that to keep it short and sweet - and thus sustainable for me - would be offensive to others. I rarely feel the freedom to simply say, “My social battery is now ready to be recharged, time for me to go” or, “I need to get back to work”. Because I rarely feel that the grace is available, I don’t get together with others as often as I would if I gave myself freedom.
No one else can give me permission. And no one else can revoke it.
These are actually profound thoughts, worthy of revisiting as I consider what 2024 could be, in my career as an artist.
Why not give myself freedom, and let the chips fall where they may?
I plan on sitting with the quiet, in honest consideration as to how I can make my own routine more effective, more organized, more social, more delightful, and ease-ful.
Spiritual War Fare
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life…
all the makings for an incredible cashew pesto…
I had many a conversation with many a son and daughter of God, this past 2023. In almost every case, nearly without fail, people are embattled. In some cases, deeply so.
It makes sense, because we do have an enemy, and he is not “flesh and blood”. Our enemy is a soul-realm-enemy, but the fact that he operates in the soul and cannot kill our body doesn’t make him less dangerous. It makes him more dangerous.
A few weeks ago, and true to our yearly tradition, Tim and I watched the old Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The same line always grabs my full attention, every year - the opening bit when the two angels are having a conversation:
Franklin: A man down on Earth needs our help.
Clarence: Splendid! Is he sick?
Franklin: No, worse, he's discouraged.
…breakfast.
We’ve all heard of “MRE’s” - Meals Ready to Eat - used by our military. The Institute of Medicine did a comprehensive study of humans under combat conditions and determined that service members (who were classified as highly active persons between the ages of 18 and 30) typically burn about 4,200 calories a day, but tended to only consume about 2,400 calories a day during combat, entering a negative energy balance.
If not addressed, this negative energy balance can prove to be dangerous for national security. It occurs when service members fail to consume full portions of their rations. The reason for this? Usually great stress, and discouragement.
In other words, the provision has been made for the warrior. It has been meticulously measured and portioned for their highest good and for the achievement of victory. But if the warrior becomes discouraged or distracted and won’t eat it, eat all of it, he will weaken over time.
I will never forget walking in on this scene (see above image). It was a table prepared for me on a chilly autumn day in mid-October in Woodstock, Vermont. I had spent a glorious (but laborious) week teaching women in a beautiful workshop facilitated by Laura McCollough of Art and Faith Creative
On this particular evening, we convened at a beautiful red barn, owned and run by the historic Woodstock Inn. We’d spent some time walking the property before being called to dinner, and by the time we were summoned inside I was cold and hungry. The barn doors slid open, and smiling staff beckoned.
Just look at what met my gaze.
The aroma of the food was the first thing I noticed. After that, I saw how every detail had been meticulously prepared beforehand. You better know I relished every bite.
Hey you. You, there, in the absolute thick of it. You with the four small children. You, who just retired and your fixed income won’t cut it. You, caring for your aging dad. You with the newborn. You with the diagnosis. You who just made a sickening discovery. You who feels betrayed or abandoned.
Eat.
Your Heavenly Father saw all this chaos coming, before it ever landed on your door. He designed your “MRE” - sufficient to the day.
But you gotta sit down and eat it. Eat every single thing on the plate.
You must relish that sermon. Read the chapter of that book. Hear the word of the Lord in the lips of that friend. Buy the flowers. Open the sketchbook. Take the walk.
Feed your soul on what is true and beautiful before you wither up.
Let this blog post be your appetizer.
PS. I love you.