Well, I had meant to use the week to write insightful, substantive posts. Honest, I did. In the end, there just didn't seem to be enough time for anything besides eating, talking, sleeping, and eating. So, instead, here is a quick run-down of the remainder of the week:On Wednesday a bunch of friends met us at the Rockwell Museum -- Jon Foster, Dave Seeley, Scott Fischer, Rebecca Guay, and Lars Grant-West. Afterwards, we headed back to the barn for great, late night drinking, eating, talking, and intense Pictionary playing. (Some might argue that the winning team, which I happened to be on, was not altogether gracious about the slaughter we unleashed on the rest of the group.) Somehow we ended the night by watching Evil Dead....at 3 in the morning. (I blame Dave Palumbo!)
Thursday: everyone was very mellow in the morning. Rebecca Guay read us the first chapter of a comic book that she is writing as well as drawing...Not only is she a wonderful artist but this story is so funny and charming I cannot wait to see it done. Her reading of it was priceless...anyone that meets Rebecca must ask her to read it to you. Scott Fischer surprised me by bringing in the final John C. Wright "Chaos" cover. It may be my favorite of the series. A frisbee was thrown, more food, and an earlier night.
Friday was a nice long goodbye. We all had a final relaxing breakfast...which somehow rolled into a final relaxing lunch and then back to New York to prepare for the following day’s Art Out Loud demo with Todd & Donato.
Despite all of the above, I was impressed with how much work got done. (By others, not me.) A few of us were in much-needed vacation mode, but the majority of the group was very focused. (I'm sorry to have avoided showing the paintings here but I'm not sure who was working on projects that clients may not have seen yet.) It was particularly exciting to be in a group of artists at so many different stages in their careers. Artists typically work in isolation...It was clear that everyone enjoyed being able to walk around, look at other people’s work and chat while taking breaks. Todd was the only one working digitally but most everyone sat down with him at some point for a private tutorial. All agreed that it was the most refreshing and energizing week that we could have hoped for. We already miss our barn.
Pictures: Scott Fischer with his cover for John C. Wright's Titans of Chaos. At the Rockwell. Relaxing in the barn. Outside the barn. Everyone: Scot F., Dave S., Dave P., Rebecca / Lars, Scott A., Me, Jinju / Cyril, Arkday, Julie, Todd / Mark, Christina, Sara, Jon / Tony, Scott B., Greg / Boris, Dan, Tiffany.