I spent two grey and rainy days this week holed up in my office, doing accounting for my taxes. I had been dreading this task, and put it off until this Monday. Surprisingly, when I sat down at my desk, pushed all the other papers away, and turned off my email, an almost zen-like space opened up. It was just me and the numbers from the year before – inputting them methodically into Quicken. I was struck by how each receipt brought back memories of things I forgot I had even done. A receipt from a framer reminded me that I had editioned more pieces than I thought I had from Mapping the Body. A postage receipt reminded me that I did a mailing to my collectors last summer. Travel receipts from a trip to New Mexico reminded me that my trip to Review Santa Fe last May was less than a year ago. I learned from this that in my work as an artist, I am most often in the present or the future – my head full of all I want to do. One good thing that came from tax accounting this week was a recognition of all the small stuff - the little details, the errands run, the mail sent, the connections made - that altogether reveal how much hard work I have already done. This then feels like a great point to be taking a vacation. In two days, my husband and I are headed to Mexico to a small beach town near Zihuatanejo where we will relax and bring the tempo of our bodies back to a resting pace.
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