This time it was a family reunion

My family and I just returned home from an eight day whirlwind trip to Colorado. We visited three different family groups and had loads of fun hiking to waterfalls, climbing rocks, playing on go-karts and bumper boats, going down water slides, visiting the zoo and ofcourse eating.

The kids ran everywhere they went at full speed. 

They became "expert" rock climbers.

The waterfalls were stunning.

The mountains were majestic.

The Henry Doorly Omaha Zoo was our final stop on our way home.

It did not disappoint.

I deliberately left all of my art supplies at home on this trip. I wanted to give myself some distance from this latest series of paintings and take any spare time I might have to read the stack of books I have been neglecting. 

I only had time to indulge in Patti Smith's book "Just Kids". It is her memoir about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. It was wonderful. I was captivated by the way she wrote about the devotion that she and Robert Mapplethorpe shared for each other and their art. It was fascinating to read about the way in which their talents evolved over time. It is written without any hint of pretension.  

Coming home from this trip was exciting this time. Instead of dreading the mountains of laundry and clean up and schedule readjustment, I was anxious to get back to work. I missed painting. It was great to have had a little distance from them so that I could come back with fresh eyes. And Patti Smith served as a motivating force through her passion for her own art to fill my head with new ideas and to look at my old ideas from a different prespective and most of all to simply make time to work every day.