There’s something about experiencing the world from the middle of a lake or river in a kayak. Everything looks and feels so different. Of course it does, considering that I live the majority of my life on land and in a city. Maybe it’s because I learned to kayak so late in life and don’t get to do it that often that it still feels like a new adventure every time. I don’t swim that well, but I feel pretty comfortable in a kayak on fairly calm waters. I’ve experienced some slightly rough waters, but nothing that I couldn’t handle, at least.

This photo is from my trip up to Maine a few weeks ago. We spent a week there before the opening of my show at the Zillman Art Museum. Had such a good time being in so much nature, having fires in the cabin, good food, good wine and good conversation that midway through, I’d almost forgotten why we’d gone up there. What solo museum show? I'm on a lake watching this amazing sunset!

The trip was just what I needed after such an intense summer season preparing for the Zillman show and getting work installed in "From Invisible to Invincible: Honoring the Art of Color", a new group exhibition at Historic Strawberry Mansion in Fairmount Park. I'm incredibly grateful for both of these opportunities, but it's also a ton of work. So, going to a place filled with nature like Maine was just the thing I needed to recharge. 

There's the quiet, the various sounds of birds and other fauna, the smell of pine trees and so, so many stars to see at night. We had two nights of starry skies, but it was breathtaking. I appointed myself the keeper of the fire in the cabin's cast-iron heater. It's amazing how warm something like that can make a place. 

I took some drawing materials with me but once again, didn't use any of them. I took a ton of photos, as I usually do when I go away. Just like with other trips, I was more interested in soaking up my surroundings and basking in the warmth of love, friends, and everything else good about life.