Catch -up part 3

...Arrived at Linda's insanely happy to see my friend again. 

   Ok, much of this is posted on FB and IG so to condense: Spent the next week doing some fieldwork but mostly tweaking the artwagon, spending time with Linda and rethinking my plans.

   New plan: Aim for a base camp every 100-200 miles, probably cheap primitive campsites at state parks where I could reserve spots. Spend 4-10 days, traveling along farm roads and to small towns within an approx. 50 mile radius. 

    My next base camp, happily, was only about two hours south. And I'd been invited. I'd spend the next two weeks in a travel trailer at my adopted extended family's farm. The back-to-back blessing of stays as guest of dear friends was just the reset needed.

    Relaxed, enjoyed family outings to the kid's events, got tons of fieldwork done and was booked to meet with 3 day's worth of elementary, middle school and high school students. Finally got to do some of the outreach I had proposed. 

   But time was pressing and I had to move on. The next 3 days were a bust. 

   It became increasingly clear that I couldn't retrace the 2013 ride. Both the landscape and people had changed. Old folks had passed away. Phone numbers no longer working. Property changed hands. Rural roads by pastures had been turned into suburbs. A long stretch of rails-to-trails had only a major freeway next to it. And one entire 30-or-so mile length of road was blocked off and being razed, the bridge dismantled.

    I let go of the 2013 ride. This journey would have to be its own adventure - the same general direction on an unknown path. I headed south. Immediately my luck improved. I spent the next 5 days at a great campground, driving farm roads in the radius, meeting several folks who stopped their trucks to ask what is the mule artwagon? Just what I was hoping for. Did live vodcasts on FB. 

   Which brings this blog sort of up to date. 

Catch-up part 2

...The entire shape of the project was shifting. How to follow the route driving farm roads just 15-40 miles a day, when there might not be a safe place (or any place) to pull off and sleep that wasn't private property for 50-100 miles at a time? I didn't budget for motels and RV campgrounds. 

   I spent a few truck-stop nights on my way to Duncan, OK. It wasn't too bad. I found that if I knew exactly where I'd be for the night, I could relax and take my time on the rural roads doing fieldwork. And once I checked out the lot and was sure it was good, I could drive to the nearest small park or other peaceful spot, open the artwagon's barn doors and work in the studio until dark.

   But until a stop was confirmed, I'd spend all day looking. I can't see to drive after dark. The stress of needing to find a place before nightfall was so great it would derail all other concerns until solved. That meant I lost whole days of work while moving through AZ, NM and west Texas. 

   I arrived at Linda's near Duncan, OK thoroughly exhausted and insanely happy to see my friend again. 

CONTINUED...

Catch up

Five weeks' worth of notes and photos? 

Don't worry, I won't inflict that on my readers! I'll just attempt a brief roundup of how the project has been going so far, so this blog can have a fresh start.

Not gonna repeat what's already posted on social media. Suffice to say the project got off to a rough start, but after I blew through New Mexico - where people were scared, and it was clear that they were serious about their quarantine and out-of-state visitors were definitely not wanted - my confidence began to return.

Still, I had to spend 2 more nights at truck stops before reaching Linda's place in Oklahoma. The dawning realization that it was not going to be nearly as easy as I thought to find places in my VERY loudly painted van to find safe places to pull off and sleep, really shook me. The entire shape of the project was shifting.

[TO BE CONTINUED...]

Issue is fixed!

The technical difficulty has been solved.

I now have no excuse for not blogging...

except it's late, I'm tired and going to bed. : )

Testing

Test

blog is broken

 Sorry, folks.

The blog is having technical difficulties. Google won't let me post from my phone, from another browser, or change any settings. I will post if and when I can. 

If I have to start another account, I'll let you know here.

The Project

 

In grant documents, the project is called "Art Wagon Return." I proposed returning to to the path of a previous journey to do research & development using local art materials, and to offer what I can of all things art to the [mostly rural] folks I meet along the way. 

To my happy surprise, the Arizona Commission on the Arts also thought this was a good idea. So here I am, about to launch!

The first journey, in 2013, was on Walter. This is Walter.

Walter is a fine mule. I bought him in Louisiana, rode him into Mississippi, then turned around and rode him back to Arizona. He'll be home - out to pasture - while I'm away this time.

Of course, nothing is "normal" in this strange year. The grant was approved in late March. We all know what happened next... everything came to a stuttering halt. Schedules changed. Plans changed. How to put out the canopy & chairs and invite visitors, when travelers are being asked to self-quarantine?

AFTSA to the rescue! Our local Tucson arts council gave out small emergency grants to artists doing public works, to salvage their projects by going virtual. So I was gifted a cell-signal booster, phone tripod and mic. Video podcasting. Social media.

Live streaming will be on Facebook and Instagram. I know, I know. Deal with the devil... but what's that Mark Twain quote?: "Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company." 

The van conversion isn't done yet. A few before-and-after pics of the inside:

and the combo worktable/bed platform:

I'm not a carpenter. It's been a steep learning curve. But I'm doin' it! More has been done since, and the outside paint job will be finished next. And then the packing begins.