Reflections on a Road Well-Travelled, Part 1

Aimee and I just completed a nearly 8 week, cross-country workshop tour of the USA. We taught six workshops, had two stand alone demos, visited countless wonderful friends, family, and communities along the way, and saw spectacular landscapes and vistas in nearly every region of the contiguous states with the exception of the Pacific Northwest. 

Our first stop was in Wilmington, NC, just after Hurricane Florence, where we were hosted by the Wilmington Arts Association, John Wulfmeyer, his lovely wife, Yvonne, and the beautiful and talented, Risa Kell, and her husband, Fred. Despite still reeling from the hurricane and its aftermath, the community was vibrant, determined, and welcoming. Our workshop was a delight, as was our after-hours visits with our hosts and other friends from the arts community. A fabulous kickoff to our epic adventure!

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From there we made our way back “home,” to Louisiana, where Aimee and I met and spent much of our early years. First stop was our beloved New Orleans, where we “bathed” ourselves in the ambience and atmosphere of this most eccentric and unique city, walking endlessly through the streets of Uptown and Magazine street, shopping and dining, and visiting, and simply drinking in the juice of this exquisite, yet funky city. O, the Architecture!! My goodness, what a place!! Then on to our old haunts, more visiting with old friends and family, before we motored to our next destination, Houston. 

In Houston, a thoroughly modern city, we were hosted by Jerri Powell. Our two workshops, which were back to back, took place in the spacious studio of Bruce Williamson, a well known Houston artist and teacher, who was both gracious and fully accommodating. Not only were the workshops amazing and filled with eager and talented painters, but we made a point of discovering the “jewels” of the city—the many parks and green spaces where we could walk freely and lengthily, where we could walk endlessly in beautiful spaces that provided a welcome respite from the humid, sultry heat. It was on one of these jaunts where we had perhaps the most remarkable experience of the trip, maybe of my entire human existence. More on this tomorrow…

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