Since we only did two shows in 2021, I was able to work in the studio without pressure to have all new artwork ready for each art show. I was able to let my creative juices flow in several new directions. I did a small show in our hometown of Covington Louisiana featuring large graphite drawings called "Anima Vesta". There is nothing like having time to experiment and explore creative impulses for an artist. With our usual schedule of traveling the nation going to art shows from Florida to Seattle ,and spending well over a month in Africa, I really haven't had the luxury of creative time to myself. So for me, COVID was a bit of a blessing. I was able to and try new colors, techniques, and subjects- sometimes failing- sometimes succeeding in directions I could've never predicted. My Anima Vesta exhibition is a great example of some of the new directions I was able to explore this year.
In May, we took our first vacation in many years, taking our friends Clark and Mary out on an invitation to stay with them in their house overlooking St. John Bay on St. John's. Jim found us a beautiful little VR B0 on a deserted beach on St. Thomas for our first week. Because of COVID, there were no cruise ships or people there so we had the run of the island and had a blast. We cooked fresh seafood every night, snorkeled on our own private reef, made some new friends, and explore the island at our leisure. No one else to worry about, no schools to teach at, no art business, just reading, relaxing, and enjoying each other and the sunshine. It was awesome!
The second week we took the ferry over from St. Thomas to St. John's and spent the week with Clark and Mary in their beautiful, palatial home overlooking the islands. It was a beautiful home and we had a wonderful time there but the most fun was exploring the island with them. We rented a boat one day and explored the bays and beaches of the coast of St. John. We saw many wrecks still in the water from hurricane Maria and had a relaxing dinner and margaritas sitting in the water around a floating bar and restaurant on a beautiful bay, in crystal clear water!
After only being home a few weeks we loaded up our van and headed out west to deliver two very large, 6' x 8' paintings to their destinations in Colorado and Wyoming. One of the paintings was to some old friends and collectors were building an incredible house on top of Snowmass Mountain in Colorado. So we had a great trip starting in southern Colorado visiting my old friend Crystal who has a beautiful ranch near Pagosa Springs. After spending a few days with her and visiting my horse BREVA at his new home, we visited our friend Paul in Salina and then went on to an exhibition at Beavercreek at a new gallery we are working with there.
