An Airplane Epiphany

I had an airplane epiphany flying to Tucson this weekend for my exhibition opening at the Etherton Gallery. The chest cold almost prevented my traveling there. But in the end, I shortened my trip and flew in on Saturday and out on Sunday. As a good friend said, “famous people do that all the time - why can’t you?”

And so Saturday found me airbound, headed southeast on Southwest. There is something about flying - literally hovering high above all the earthly concerns below - that grants a blessed sense of perspective. I have been so close to my new work right now, engrossed daily in the anxiety and exhilaration of pushing it forward and working toward the deadline of my Bolinas Museum show. On the plane, I was locked into one seat with no email, no telephone, no physical work to do on my art - just me and blank journal pages. Maybe it was the latte I had in the Vegas airport when I changed planes, but I found myself filling page after page with words and ideas on how to shape and refine what I am doing. A whole new understanding of my art emerged, giving me a renewed sense of confidence that indeed this work will resolve itself in time.