Deanna's Excellent Artistic Summer Adventure

I've been busy getting ready for my summer adventure. I'll be gone for almost a month! In a couple of days, I'm headed to the east coast for the start of my adventure:

Part 1 -
The Second National Encaustic Painting Conference near Salem, Massachusetts. I went to the first one last year and had an amazing time. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the artists that I met last year and meeting new ones.

I'll be staying with Kate Miller and Gwen Plunkett, who I just met in February when they came to Dallas for the College Art Association conference. We hit it off and I'm glad that I'll be able to spend some more time with them.

I'll be staying on a couple extra days after the conference. Gwen and Kate have both signed up for post-conference workshops and I may try to get into one of those or I may just do some sight-seeing. Or I may try to recreate my "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" adventure to Provincetown.

Part 2 -
New York City! Since I have a few days between the conference and the start of my residency, I thought it would be fun to spend some time in New York visiting museums and galleries. Alas, since my search for a Park Avenue penthouse to crash in for free turned up empty, I'll be staying at a cool-looking hostel. I've been to New York twice but was with people who weren't so into the art scene, so I'm excited to get to do anything I want and go anywhere I want! Joanne Mattera has already sent me a Chelsea gallery guide, and of course I'll be visiting museums, too. And looking for good pizza. Art and food. It's all about priorities.

Part 3 -
Artist's Residency at Soaring Gardens in Pennsylvania. I've already booked my ticket on the bus from NYC to Scranton. I'll rent a car in Scranton and then attempt to find Soaring Gardens, where I'll be staying and making art for 18 days.

So now I'm busy trying to figure out how to cram a month's worth of stuff in one small suitcase. I also want to have someone ship my art supplies to me, so I don't have to lug them around.

Thanks to everyone who has "invested" in my residency. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity and I'm really excited to share what I learn with everyone.


I got a new laptop (Betty, pictured above), so I'll try to blog about my adventure as I go along, depending on internet access, of course.

I have a link on the blog now if you're interested in signing up for my mailing list. When I get back, I plan to start sending out a regular (hopefully monthly) newsletter. So please sign up. But don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while - I'll be adventuring!