Wh-a-a-a-at? Rain? Don’t you want sun ALL the time?

All summer at Squam. Easy beautiful days. And in my life, easily doing whatever. Whatever I set out to do. No challenges. No bad weather.

I want summer to be ongoing bliss.

I started out the summer – or was it late spring? – with this idea I’ve mentioned: designing beautiful pillows to share my art. I wanted to offer comfort enhanced by my aesthetic. In my ongoing posts, I’ve shared stories behind some of the images I’ve created over the years. Many will appear on my pillows.

What I didn’t expect was that I would encounter a bit of “wind and rain” en route to my destination: pillows ready. I wanted to go from here to there; to sail across the waters easily. It’s taken more time and effort than anticipated. But I’ve learned a lot. And hope that the outcome will be worth the effort.

Meantime, along the way I took a different tack, to use a sailing term. I got enticed by an additional idea and added that to my adventure. The search for ways to offer my art to others. How about tote bags?

It took a good minute or 500 to understand how to actually do this, but in the end, I got caught up and I was saaaaaaaiiiiiling. Creating and creating and creating. Now I need to wait a few weeks for the production in order to see the results of my art on totes.

This whole endeavor has felt to me like word designs I put on four pillows years ago. Now, I don’t think anyone wants to read this many words on a cushion. But I was caught up in play.

Not knowing what it’s all about. Getting caught up. Immersion.

And retrospect. (The one hoped for)

Do you get caught up in this way? In a season, place, project? Even when you weren’t sure going in. And then, looking back afterwards…

Only sunshine.