Moving to the Country: a Dream Come True

The Start of a New Life in the Country

Bye bye Montreal! It was our intention to make the move, the pandemic simply speeded things up. Jean-Louis and I have left the big city and are now happy dwellers of a house in the country near Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, a parish municipality in the Mauricie region of Quebec. More than a change of scene, the move marks the beginning of a new life for us. A life more in synch with nature and its seasons.

Shortly after our precipitated arrival, last spring, I threw myself into a gardening. I was rather ambitious for a newbie. I'm talking big machinery to create a clearing, four loads of dirt delivery by ten wheeler dump trucks, so many seedlings in my windows the place looked like a botanical garden... Between planting, watering, weeding, not to mention fixing up the new house and creating several flower beds, summer went by in a flash. Along with abondant crops then came the necessity to learn the art of canning. I think we now have enough tomate sauce to last us at least a couple of years!

Nurturing creation

So I've been quite busy in the last few months. All the while, new art projects have continued to ripen and simmer in the back of my mind. I'm sometimes worried about not maintaining a regular and "productive" enough practice. The dogged persistent image of the artist perpetually driven to create new work is a myth hard to shake! Whereas for me, the creative impetus is easily fulfilled by a wide range of activities that allow for the expression of inventiveness: cooking, home-decoration, landscaping, etc. Failing that I consciously put time aside, every week, for my art work, days go by and projets remain  in a latent state... To  dispel the uncomfortable feeling of not being a "real" artist, I will often turn my attention to my many blessings. I find that nurturing gratitude is immensely grounding. I also remind myself that my artistic fibre is alive in everything I undertake. Being an artist is, above all, a state of mind. This being said, in order to continue making art my profession, I'm aware that my challenge is to instill more balance in my life. And that probably means, among other things, planting less tomatoes next spring? 🍅

Until then, I'll soon be back with news about my upcoming exhibitions scheduled for this fall..