Sometimes I am in a writing mood and I can go on and on as if I am speaking to a very good friend in the same room. Other times, my thoughts are all internalized and I can not make them leave the corridors of my brain long enough to get them written down. Days then weeks have slipped on by and I realize that all my time is spent and I have not yet written any of those precious time moments down.

Getting ready for my Tucson show is both exhausting and stressful. There is the sorting and pricing and compiling of inventory. Packing and making shipping arrangements can take days. Then there is all the minute, annoying details of everyday life to get taken care of. The housesitter. The cats. The newspaper. Jacob. Paperwork.

The shop is another child that needs attention. Is it staffed? How much inventory is on hand? Is it ready for me to be gone? Are all arrangements made?

Then there is the little sadness I feel at leaving my nest. I like being here. I like making things in my studio and being with customers in my shop. I do not need to leave home to find home or contentment. I am here with all of that.

The thing that takes me the most time to get ready to leave? Packing my projects. What to read? Knit? Bead? I prepare journals and art supplies to accompany me. My mind thinks I will have time, much time to craft and read but in reality, I am exhausted at the day's end and can barely have dinner before I am lost to the evening. The night becomes only about sleeping.

I am excited at the same time to see a different place. To experience color and air that will infuse my work, especially my painting and drawing with new direction, new flavor. That part of journey is a bonus! Friends, I will see them too and I will once again feel I am part of my tribe, infused with the energy that comes from being with people who experience the same things you do.

For now, here are pictures of what I have made over the last week that will be part of my display in Tucson. I am designing with a palette of colors in orange, yellow, turquoise, sapphire blues, deep browns, blacks,  and earthy reds. Much of my jewelry display will be deeply painted with these colors.

Now as I head into dreamland, I will think and perhaps even dream of my coming Tucson trip. On giant winged crows, I fly into a new show in a favorite location, The Windmill Inn in Tucson. I have not stayed there for several years but I suspect that living there for a couple of weeks will feel like an old friend has welcomed me back. Plus there should be some sunshine!