Tag: Moving

Moving Ahead and Moving On

The past week, and especially the past weekend, has been a physical and mental challenge for me. As I stated I would in a previous post, I moved from a house in Canton, OH to a house in Alliance, OH. There are only 13.5 miles between the two places, but moving is never easy, regardless of the distance.

The physical challenge is obvious – moving is tough on the the body, especially when you have as much stuff as I do but can’t afford to pay someone to move it for you! The mental challenge is in organizing and determining what to keep. After organizing the packing and the moving process, you must organize where things go once you are in the new place. I am now in the latter part of the process, which is not quite as physically challenging as the first part, but it is difficult living in the chaos you see above. The good thing is that my new home has many places to put things – ample closet and storage space – and it is such an inspiring space!

The cats were a bit disoriented and out of their element in making the move at first, but they are exploring and making themselves at home.

Mia Meow has been enjoying the numerous windows (Curtain pulls have now all been put out of her reach).

Even Okey, my typically shy and fearful one, has been exploring and expanding her boundaries.

I will be getting the studio space set up in short order so that I can get to the pet portrait orders I have have waiting. I can’t wait to get started painting in the new place!

I also will be tending to the yard and mini-forest that is my back yard. That will take some time, but it is in the plans.

Whenever you move, you typically are leaving some things behind as you venture onward to new opportunities. I will write more on this in the future as to how this particular move represented a move away from undesired circumstances, and a move toward new opportunities. For now, I am glad that I am now in the adventure phase of moving!

Have you moved your home or studio recently? What was the experience like for you?

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

We are moving, again!

Boulevards Neighborhood Public Art Identity Marker
Design by BZTAT

I really do not enjoy moving. It is quite a chore at any age, but at this point in my life, it really takes a toll on my knees and back. Nonetheless, it is necessary, so I am looking at it as a new adventure.

Last year in March, I moved to my present home amid much fanfare. I had been awarded an Artist Residency to do public art as a means of redeveloping one of Canton’s older neighborhoods. The goal was to have me reside in a designated neighborhood and engage other residents in creative public art. There was great anticipation and support for the project, and there was hope that it would become an ongoing activity.

Things started to go astray, however, early on. I have not shared much about it publicly, as I did not want to air struggles, but it turned into quite a trying year.

First of all, the house that I rented had multiple issues that prevented me from using it as was intended as a place to invite neighbors to engage in creative activities. I won’t share the details. Just suffice to say, I was unable to resolve the issues, yet had few choices but to remain in the place.

Second, the hopes for ongoing funding of the residency did not come to fruition, and the project was given a definite time limit – 1 year. (There was no guarantee that it would go past a year in the first place, but there were hopeful expectations offered.)

All of this was personally challenging. We were successful, however, in engaging a few residents in an art project where we created artsy little houses as neighborhood identity markers. The project was marred somewhat by vandalism, yet, repairs are in process to make the houses more sturdy in the future.

I made some wonderful friendships in the process, and despite the challenges, that made the whole thing worthwhile. But the residency is finished now, and it is time for me and the cats to move to a more accommodating home.

I have found a house near Alliance, OH that I believe will be a better fit for us. It truly is an artist’s dream house with lots of creative space in a rustic setting. It is in a neighborhood outside of the city, although it is close to a shopping area, so it sort of has the best of two worlds. There are many windows and lots of places to climb, so I believe the cats will absolutely love it!

We will be moving in the next few weeks so there’s lots of work to do. Stay tuned as we endeavor into this new adventure!

It's not easy to move an artist and five cats.

Fabulous Five
Drawing by BZTAT

As I shared in a previous post, I was offered an Artist Residency that truly lives up to its name. I am to “reside” in a neighborhood in Canton to engage other residents in creative projects that enhance their community. The neighborhood is called The Boulevards, and I have been moving into a house there for a couple of weeks now.

I will be sharing a lot about those creative projects in this space as the year goes on. At the moment, though, it is a bit difficult to focus on the meta aspects of the program’s future goals. That’s because I am up to my eyeballs in the micro details of moving.

I can’t be in two places at once, so I am closing the Creative Ohio Gallery (where I had my studio) at the same time as I am moving my home. That means I have had to move twice as much stuff, and I am still working at it.

I have moved many times in my life and it is never easy, but as you grow older it is much more difficult. First of all, your body is not as well equipped for the rigors of carrying stuff up and down stairs as it once was. Second, you seem to have accumulated a lot more stuff to move over time. And third, you seem to have accumulated more cats than you ever planned to have.

The first two are pretty self explanatory. It’s just plain grueling and physically taxing to move when you are older. But why does the number of cats matter?

All cats have adjustment issues when they move, just like people do. But mine push it to the limit. Especially Okey, who tends to be fearful and skittish anyway.

Okey has had a tough time, requiring that I keep her in the bedroom to help her feel safe. She’s coming along and will be venturing out of her “safe space” soon, but it has been a slow process for her.

Noah has been hiding a lot and only coming out when he knows I’m done moving, unpacking and rearranging things. Slick has had moments where she gets a bit befuddled, as her age has left her eyesight and hearing somewhat impaired. Brewskie and Who seemed to have adjusted the best, although they have their moments too.

We will all adjust soon, I am certain. It is a challenging time for all of us, but I think we are all going to enjoy our new home once we get settled in.

I hope to be creating fun stuff in my new studio and sharing stories of the Boulevards projects soon. In the meantime, we’ll take it one day at a time as we forge ahead with the process of creating a new home in our new neighborhood. Life certainly is an adventure!