Winding Down My Art Residency at Catoctin Mountain National Park

(Above:  Fiber vessels thus far at my art residency in Catoctin Mountain National Park.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

A lot of things have happened since I last wrote a blog post.  All of them are GOOD!  So, in no particular order ... first ... I have zigzag stitched over sixty fiber vessels.  The photo above was taken last Thursday.  More have come into existence and I plan on adding to that number this afternoon and tomorrow morning!  It's nice to have a spare room in this large chestnut cabin with extra cots on which to line them up!

(Above:  Selfie at Chimney Rock.)

Second, I have officially hiked every trail in this National Park!  While that might sound majorly impressive, the fact of the matter is that there are only twenty-five miles of hiking trails.  I have, however, gone on some of them more than once!  My average hike has only been about six miles.  Compared to Guadalupe Mountains and Great Basin National Parks, it's been rather easy.  Sure ... some of the trails are rated as "strenuous".  They are difficult but not in the sense of elevation change, length, or sun/wind exposure.  They get that rating due to rocks!  

 

 (Above:  A section of the Gateway Trail.)

One must proceed carefully!  Due to rain, the leaves are often slippery and occasionally hide an exposed tree limb. Falling down could result in a serious injury.  How do I know?  Well, on my first week here, I did fall.  My right foot tripped on one of those exposed tree limbs.  I fell as if a hinged cabinet door being slammed to the ground.  Thankfully, it really wasn't on a dangerous, rocky section.  Because I didn't stumble, slide, and skit on the ground, I wasn't scraped at all. No blood.  No broken bones. No strain or sprain. Even the palms of my hands showed no result of both hitting the ground.  My chin, however came down on a rock and I've had a nasty bruise ever since.  Yet, my teeth are fine.  My nose didn't hit and break.  My glasses flew off my head but weren't damaged.  I bought concealer and powder before my presentations in the Thurmont Regional Library.  I've Photoshopped my own selfies.  By next week, there will be no signs of this incident!  It did serve to remind me that "strenuous" has many meanings on a hike.  Rocks can be dangerous!  

(Above and below:  Wolf Rock at Catoctin Mountain National Park.)

Yet rocks are one of the best reasons to hike at Catoctin Mountain National Park.  Wolf Rock is particularly magnificent.  These giant boulders and deep crevices are stunning.  

 

Because I hike on an early weekday morning, I am usually the only person around. There is a special feeling that happens when alone in nature, especially at such an unusual place.  All of life becomes simultaneously unique and precious but also just minuscule parts of the gigantic world.  Personal problems, politics, and a frenzied lifestyle become unimportant in the face of the environment and on the global timeline.  This is truly where one's mind finds clarity, peace, and creative inspiration.  This is why I hike.

 

Along the trails, I've seen all sorts of wonders ... like white-tailed deer, woodpecker holes, spider webs, and more lichen than I've even seen anywhere else.

I also saw this toad.  He stood still for this portrait! 

I've hiked beside several picturesque creeks ...




... with quick flowing water that filled the air with sound.  It's been pure joy to find myself surrounded by so much beauty.  Yet, that's not everything I've done while here!

 

 (Above:  The amazingly talented Leslie Riley and I at Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg.)

So ... third ... a week before I came, the local newspaper printed the press release sent by the Catoctin Forest Alliance.  It featured my then, upcoming art residency.  One of the people reading it was the super talented artist Leslie Riley.  We have met one another before this and were Facebook friends, but now we've actually spent time together ... talking art, making grave rubbings in nearby Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, and having lunch twice!  It is fabulous to spend time with another artist!  I can only hope that I didn't talk too much and that Leslie enjoyed it half as much as I did!

Also, one of the ladies who attended my public presentation at the Thurmont Regional Library last weekend contacted her quilt guild.  So ... on Thursday, I went to Fairfield, Pennsylvania and gave another program for the Stitch n Piece quilt guild.  I returned on Saturday for the town's Pippinfest.  Named after the pippin apple, the festival was sort of like a town yard sale with food and crafts vendors.  The quilt guild installed a small show of members' recent works along with a couple of antique quilts. On my return, I stopped at the Emmitsburg Antique Mall.  Now ... in the past, Steve and I had several areas inside Terrace Oaks Antique Mall outside Charleston, SC.  We were dealers for more than twenty years.  As a result, I know a "good" mall from a rather shabby one.  This one was absolutely first rate!  I happily shopped for "found objects" for future Found Object Mandalas and found several cool things!  

 

(Above: My evening view to the antique crazy quilt blocks that I'm finishing as my donation to the Catoctin Mountain National Park's permanent collection.)

Finally ... but this list is hardly a complete recap of everything experienced! ... I've been spending every evening hand-stitching on the antique crazy quilt blocks, transforming these late 19th century pieces into a 21st donation to the Catoctin Mountain National Park's permanent collection.  This is the most relaxing way to end each day!

Tomorrow things change!  Steve is flying into Reagan Airport in Washington, DC and riding the metro to Shady Grove.  That end-of-the-line metro station is only forty-seven miles away!  I can't wait to share a little of this place with Steve.  We head back to South Carolina on Wednesday!