Rey Residency Day 14 - Lots of Drawings and A Daring Robbery!

Day 14 - My last day as Artist in Residence at the Margret and H.A. Rey Center in Waterville Valley is one filled with a surprising amount of emotion.

I'm primarily emotional about the fact that I have to lug all my stuff down three floors without being able to conscript my kids into doing it for me. Because they aren't here.

I considered calling the police to see if that's a service they offer here in town, but it seemed ill-advised for some reason. Especially after the whole Barbie thing.

As I packed up my belongings, I thought it might be fun to take a look at all the work I've completed here.

I began laying out my drawings on the floor. I had to push a table out of the way. Then a foot rest. Then a couch.

It was a lot of work.

Somehow, in between searching for garden elves, hunting for purple chairs, searching for letters in bottles, chronicling Barbie's last precious hours on earth, collecting bottles of wine, going to dinners, hiking mountains, and searching for elusive gazebos, I did a lot of work.

I could have done more if it hadn't been for that stupid Barbie and those enticing gazebos. Oh, and the wine.

I spent a lot of time during the residency thinking about what an amazing opportunity it was. I feel so lucky that I was able to spend two carefree weeks, focusing on nothing but my passion. By which I mean art; not wine. Wine isn't my passion. It's a hobby. There's a difference.

I cannot even begin to express my thanks to all the people who made it happen. The Margret and H.A. Rey Center Board of Directors, The Rey Center volunteers, the staff and students at Waterville Valley Elementary School, and all the new friends I made in Waterville Valley who showed me around, invited me to dinners, sent me on snipe hunts to find gazebos that do not exist, made me eggplant calzones, opened their homes to me, gave me wine, cleaned my house, posed for ridiculous pictures, and generally made this one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.

I thank you all very sincerely.

I'm certain that I will never have any idea of all the work that went into making this all happen, but as the first Artist in Residence, I hope that this is the beginning of a long tradition. It was an incredible honor and an opportunity I hope many other artists are able to experience in the years to come.

As the last few items were shoved into the car and the bike was strapped on to the bike carrier, I went over to Chris and Len's house to say goodbye and thank them again for letting me stay in their guest house and for their incredible hospitality throughout my entire stay.

Chris and me. Len was taking the picture. We should have had the dog take it so Len could be in here with us!

I climbed into the car and, with one last photo of my lodgings, headed home.

Actually, I'll be back because I found out that I accidentally brought home a piece of Chris and Len's Tupperware. Sorry, guys! I'll return it sometime.

One last time, most sincerely, thank you all so very much.