(Above: The former park ranger, historic house at the Gulph Gorge National Park Campground on the grounds of Hot Springs National Park ... aka ... HOME FOR A MONTH! Click on any photo in this post to enlarge.)
I am now the official “artist-in-residence” at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. It is a privilege. It is an honor. It is an awesome opportunity. The orientation took a full two hours and was filled with all sorts of governmental paperwork … like agreeing not to carry a firearm, litter, or sexually harass anyone. Most of the paperwork was really helpful ... like emergency telephone numbers and personnel contact information. I was provided with an official name tag and nicely monogrammed park shirt that I’m not even required to wear! The people here couldn’t be nicer. The park is beautiful … hot … but I’m very used to that!
I came early to Hot Springs so that I could go to the monthly “First Friday” art crawl through the historic district. Next month, I’ll be part of it … and I wanted to get a feel for the evening in a leisure way. It was so much fun. There’s plenty of great art on display and the gallery owners were all so gracious and easy to approach. It was 9 PM before I knew it! (Actually, the event lists hours of 5 – 8 but each place was still busy when I left for dinner at 9 PM. This is a great, supportive arts community!)
Even before "checking in" to my new home/studio, I was busy pursuing art inspiration. I went to four historic cemeteries … Calvary, Greenwood, Hollywood, and Friendship (a historic Black cemetery established in 1924.) I scouted for rubbings, wrote down epitaphs, and snapped photos. My orientation was at 1:45 that afternoon. I was moved in before 6 PM.
So … here’s a look at my quarters for the next month! Art photos and "Hot Springs Park" photos coming soon!
(Above: The Kitchen.)
(Above: The Living Room.)
(Above: The other side of the living room. I will not be using the lovely fireplace. It topped 100 degrees here today!)
(Above: The closed in front porch ... which I'll use for melting fabric ... perfect for ventilation!)
(Above: The "dining room" ... which, obviously, has been set up as my "sewing room". I found two folding tables in a closet ... which elevated my Bernina to an ideal height. I actually stand while machine stitching.)
(Above: The "studio" ... through which you can see the "dining room/sewing room".)
(Above: Another view of the "studio" room!)
(Above: The bedroom ... linens provided!)
(Above: The bathroom ... complete with a water-saving flush toilet! Our government believes in water conservation!)
9 comments:
Welcome to your new Home for a Month! How exciting for you. Have a fabulous time and create LOTS of art!
Emanda
So glad you arrived safely and are all set for great creativity. Just keep an eye out for strange weather. Keep blogging, love Mom
It all looks so clean.
Will people come into your "Home" there to see you working on art?
I got a kick out of your visiting grave sites first but then I shouldn't be surprised at all should I? No! It's Susan!
I can't wait to see what you create while there and how people are wowed by it all.
Hope you get lots and lots of exposure.
And no sexual harrassing now! You be good!
xoox
I'm so excited for you! What a wonderful personal studio for the month. Everything to hand and plenty of time to work although I'm sure the time will fly. The cemeteries sound interesting and I'm glad you had your priorities right ;-)
Thank you for reminding me about the SAQA austion. I suspect your quilt will go really quickly.
This is SO exciting! I think I could live there...I mean permanently. Lynn asked a great question...do people come there or is it on a private part of the park? Are you like a temporary ranger or something? Did Steve equip you with a little CD player or do you work in silence? Are you the only one that lives there? It is absolutely perfect..better than I imagined!! Wow...
Welcome!!! I'm the biotech here (at HOSP) so you might see me hiking the mountains and stuff around the park. Anyway, have fun! Stay cool! And keep a lookout for the creepy crawlies and furries!
wow....enjoy!xx what an honour but you deserve it.xxlynda
Susan- this looks great. I did an "Artist in Residence" at Wildacres in North Carolina and looking at this brings back memories. A month is such a great time span to create. I only had a week. Can't wait to see and hear how things go! Have fun!
What a wonderful space to be able to create in!
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