The parts of my life that get exhibited through social media and this blog are just a few select slices of a much bigger, uglier, more complex existence that would bore you if you were subjected to it. Obviously, right? We all know that public posts are very curated, it's just that sometimes we forget. I'm a private person and what you see from me is very much intentional. I keep a lot of things for just me.
This summer, I had to go on a couple of long drives to deliver and pick up artwork and I made a conscious choice to make those trips as fun as possible. These are moments I would often just keep for myself and not share with whoever reads this, but after the second trip and a couple of key conversations, the teacher in me couldn't help but want to share. I just kept thinking there was a nugget of wisdom in there somewhere that might be good for one or two of you to read. And if not, maybe just following along on a ridiculous adventure would be better for you than doomscrolling. So...if you're interested, come with us on a little trip:
This part of the story is really cool for me. Back in the spring, Cathryn and Elena (two current students), Katherine (former student, current colleague/peer) and I decided to enter a juried exhibit for sculpture. Katherine found it and suggested it to us as a group. Like most fun things, it started like, "hey, what if we all did this together?". The exhibit was called "Metal Transformed" and all of us just happen to be metal sculptors. Cathryn and Elena had just spent a year turning metal into amazing sculptures that replicated plants and other cool things. Katherine has several amazing replications of objects in metal. Shows like this can be expensive, but I kept thinking this was just a really good idea.
We entered.
One afternoon, the text thread started. "Check your emails". We did and one by one, we all announced to the chat that we got accepted. I was astonished. Not because their work isn't great, but because artists should expect a 90% rejection rate. We were all excited and began planning how we were going to get our work all the way up to Norfolk, VA.
With long distance exhibits, I usually enter things that are easily shipped. If it's more than a couple of hours away, FedEx is cheaper than gas. With several heavy steel sculptures to send, we quickly started planning a 7 hour road trip. Heck, with this group, there was no doubt we would have fun. I'm too old to drive 14 hours in 24 hours, so an overnight trip was necessary. In May, we carefully packed and loaded our sculptures in the FJ and left my driveway at 6:00 am.
Our first order of business was delivering the artwork to D'Art Center in Norfolk. This really cool and prestigious Art Center is part of a very cool cultural arts district in downtown Norfolk. We were welcomed with a cart and access to the drop-off room.
Cathryn couldn't make the trip with us, so we printed out a flat Cathryn and took her with us.
The Chrysler Museum of Art was literally across the street from the exhibition space and they had a wonderful collection and an exhibit by one of my favorite artists, Louise Nevelson.
We took our time and saw all the art. A little overwhelming, but great. We asked the staff where we should eat and they directed us to a very cool restaurant a short walk away in a cool, historic building.
We knew we were close to water and we're all suckers for a beach, so we made our way to the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay just in time for sunset. It was gorgeous.
We are all coffee lovers. Coffee was a big part of our adventure. Katherine and I ran past a COVA coffee and decided that would be our morning coffee stop after a free breakfast at the hotel. We took flat Cathryn with us.
Here's an important note about the group dynamic:
Katherine is a planner. She will do hours of research about a city before going. She will make a Pinterest board, make lots of notes in her sketchbook and she will send you links to videos on YouTube. When she goes somewhere new, she becomes an encyclopedia that the rest of her travel group can access.
I fly by the seat of my pants. I believe in the importance of learning about a place and even doing a little light reading about it, but I enjoy spontaneous adventures. Katherine and I got to travel to Barcelona and Venice several years ago with a much larger group and she ended up being the Yang to my Yen.
Elena is happy to tell you her opinion about things, but she is very much a person who will smile and go with the flow. She says "yes" a lot and that's a perfect quality for a travel buddy.
Cathryn was flat and basically did whatever we told her.
In this group, Katherine provides the lead and we begin by walking in that original direction but then we all get easily sidetracked by my whims and silliness and we end up having even more fun than we could have planned from home.
During our first travel day, we experienced the joy of our group dynamic and had a lot of laughs and fun because of it. Give us some sleep and some coffee (and a lot of bathroom stops) and we're happy as clams.
So, of course, Katherine knew about the Norfolk Botanical Garden and when we asked everyone we talked to about what we needed to experience while we were in town, it kept coming up. We had no plans after morning coffee, so we decided to check it out.
Turns out, we happened into a picturesque and perfect day.
Even at the garden, we looked at maps, did a little research and then totally made it up as we went based on the perfect weather and the beauty of the place.
We literally stopped to smell the flowers.
And we took time to rest.
Then we stopped again to smell the flowers.
Then we lost flat Cathryn. I don't want to talk about it. RIP.
The slow pace we took was also a testament to the great personalities in the group. We all knew we had a 7 hour drive ahead of us, but we were in no hurry to leave. We wanted to experience all we could while we were there. We said yes to a lot of things, maybe everything, and we soaked it all up.
I love a side quest. The whole day, we heard the noise of planes taking off and landing at the airport beside the Botanical Garden but we couldn't quite see them because of the berm. After we walked the garden and had a magical grilled cheese and afternoon coffee at the garden, we just had to see what was on the other side of the berm. Like little kids, we stood at the top, mesmerized by the planes and even waited to wave at one of the groups heading out. It was so much fun.
"Do y'all want to get a photo with that strange chicken statue at the gas station?"
"Of course!"
Based on billboards, North Carolina is famous for weed vapes and gummies. Based on billboards, Virginia is famous for peanuts. Tempted by the road signs, we decided we needed boiled peanuts on our drive home. We followed the signs to a very cool little town and peanut shack only to find it closed at 5:00 pm. We were bummed. Still, we looked through the window and took a few photos. We made a note that we would try to catch it open on our return trip.
Elena likes to color. No story, she just likes to color.
"Elena, have you ever been to South of the Border?"
"No, but I want to go."
"Sweet!"
*Swerves onto the exit ramp.
So we stopped at South of the Border, even though it was late and all the stores were closed. The bathroom was open because "Pedro never sleeps" and neither does that bathroom attendant. (Because according to billboards, South Carolina is famous for South of the Border.) And we still got to walk around in the enchanting glow of neon lights and take photos with the critters.
An hour or so later on the interstate, I watched as an oncoming car lost control and flipped several times through a road construction zone. The adrenaline from that experience kept me wide awake until we made it home pretty late. Well, that and the fact that good travel buddies always stay awake and make for good conversation. We were tired and I'm sure all of our butts were sore from sitting in the car for so long, but we were all happy. Happy to have our work exhibited together, happy to have experienced so many fun things together, and happy to be back in our beds at home.
If you want to read about the return trip and get the moral of the story, you'll have to check back in when part two drops.
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