Place, Land and Earth
I think I might have fallen out of love with my town of Fairfax. It’s been feeling busy, noisy, and I live a little too close to my neighbors.
Having walked to and from work for the past 14 years, I have a level of intimate familiarity with my neighborhood and the changes that occur through the year. Even though I’m attuned to my area, I have this longing for a piece of land that I know so well that it’s become a part of me. A place where I know the smells of the different times of day, where I can anticipate the changes each season brings, and where I know the wild creatures and their lives and routines.
This past year I’ve had a few opportunities to exhibit outside my area. Some of these have been rather upscale and high end–lots of well off people in a beautiful and rich area of town. I started out feeling privileged to be there but that quickly changed. I ended up feeling like I walked into a bubble of entitlement, kind of uncaring and a lot about the money. Sometimes I feel like Fairfax is heading that way too, but coming back here felt like home after all.
I was talking to my husband, Sam, about this feeling of wanting to belong to a piece of land, a particular place. He has traveled and lived in many places over the years so I asked him if he felt connected to any special place. To my delight, he said didn’t feel connected to any one country or place, he felt connected to the Earth, as a whole. I find this a very comforting thought, that I belong to the whole Earth. It reinforces my feelings of love and responsibility for our planet. And if I don’t have my own spot, then I can be happy within the beauty of the place where I am.
The beauty and homeyness of a place also includes and depends on the people there. I have the wonderful opportunity to display my new African Vessel work thanks to the beauty, generosity and bigheartedness of Jennifer and Ross Asselstine. Swing by 1365 San Anselmo Ave in San Anselmo, CA to see the double window display.
Happy New Year everyone! And a very heartfelt thank you for reading and following along.