Back from my trip and I�m so happy I went. Savannah is a lovely little town with lots of charm and atmosphere and just walking down the streets is a wonderful visual experience. There are so many old houses in the historic district where my friend lives that I found to be incredible with their porches and wood siding. Even the ones in disrepair couldn�t help but to invoke this relaxed sort of refined romance of the Southern life. The weather was perfect and it�s very easy to walk all over the town proper to see everything, which is something I really love in a city. Friday when I arrived they took me back to their place and made enchiladas and homemade salsa which was great and then we went for a walk around the neighborhood and down towards the market and the river. There were quite a few people out for their Friday night fun, etc. and the only bad thing I can say about Savannah is the fact that it�s like Mardi Gras there. As long as the alcohol is in a plastic container, you can walk around with it, which would probably be WAY to big of a temptation if I were to live some place like that! Whew!
Saturday we all slept in and went for brunch at this nifty little eatery and took in the various gallery shops. That evening my friend was scheduled to do a poetry reading and I was impressed at how he�d grown since the last time I had seem him read. He�s very good at the performance aspects, how to enhance the word thru his speech and gestures. I also got to meet a friend of theirs that I had been corresponding with. She�s a writer and her fianc� is an artist. I didn�t get to bed until about 3 a.m.
Sunday they made me a huge breakfast, and then we went out to some of the outer areas which just turns into strip malls the farther you get out of the town center. We hit some bookstores and record shops as well as an art supply place where I finally managed to grab some sumi ink and other stuff that I had been needing for many months now. I don�t know why I can�t bring myself to do mail order for those things.
We took Monday fairly easy since I had to catch the plan at 3:00. Cyd and I went to a gallery exhibit of Chris Mars work, (used to be in the Replacements for those that don�t know), which centered around his brother�s struggles against mental illness. The images were primarily rendered on scratchboard or pastels were incredibly detailed and haunting. He had really created a whole new world inside these pieces, everything from the people and their expressions and cloths to even the shapes of the buildings, steps, sidewalks all had this twisted appearance. I got such a charge from it that I�m really excited to get back to work on some of my own drawings, and that�s the best feeling from good art: when it inspires you to get excited.
There were some difficult and awkward moments, Cyd and I have a strange and complex friendship and history and sometimes take innocent comments personally. It didn�t ruin the weekend, but it certainly added some less than positive elements in the fact that we had about three arguments over the course of what adds up to 3 days, but I think we�ve resolved some of those issues once and for all.
Anyway, now I�m back trying not to get stressed over the backed up work waiting for me and the impending deadline for the website I�ve been creating that�s due to the corporate headquarters for review by the 19th. I know I�ll get it done, but until I do, the worry is sort of just sitting there on my shoulder trying to fray my nerves and shake my confidence.
Oh yeah, and I finished my first collection of what I�m referring to as a �picture journal� just before I left last week. The copies I made came out fairly well considering the lack of resources here, but I think I�m going to shop around and look into some better quality printing. It felt good to see it all together, I�m anxious to start on putting another together, but there�s plenty of work to be done on the present pages so it�s just going to have to wait awhile.
