Moving Back. Moving Forward

Revisiting Ep. 1 with Abstract artist, Ty Nathan Clark

Hi everyone.

After six weeks out, I’m starting to make the reverse move back IN to my home, which is still empty of furniture. I kind of like that: pure potential once again. Of course, when I bring everything back in, it will be the same stuff for the most part, and it will likely be placed in the the same places as before. There are details that have yet to be finished, like the painting of the baseboards, the tiling of the backsplash, and (note to self) purchasing of bathroom mirrors, as those rooms were gutted along with the kitchen. Anyway, here we are, it feels like moving into a house for the first time…filled with nothing but space and possibility. I love empty surfaces. They never last that way for long, and visually, it gives my seeking-style brain a sense of comfort that all is well and I don’t have to do anything. I love the simplicity of an empty room or clean countertop. I breath easier, perhaps. Even so, I DON’T love to clean, and soon this little home will be filled with stuff again, and I’ll be moving things in piles from one surface to another like before. Same as it ever was.

Here is our feline familiar, Maddy, looking quite pantheresque in B&W. (I love the surprise detail of the witchy broom, leaning at the wall…for now. That ugly lamp looks better in Maddy’s presence too.) From my estimation, she seems quite content to be home, and now she walks about with some extra swagger. I believe this confidence is well-deserved and appropriate after six weeks of protecting her temporary territory (and its three human inhabitants—obviously) from that nosy tomcat next door that, from time to time, would pounce from the tiled roof Maddy’s sliding-glass door, her daily perch. A literal peeping tomcat. I don’t blame her for being outraged. Usually quiet and polite, yet territorially talented, Maddy proved her domestic prowess with some Crouching Tiger style pounces and Hidden Dragon hissing.

I don’t know how she found this creature because she only has access to the tiniest outside area and all the walls of the house have been freshly-closed with drywall, but after just one night home, she christened the new floors by leaving a dead rat in my empty bedroom, right where I would normally sleep on my pillow. I’m still mystified. Could it have been a gift, as sometimes pets give? Perhaps it was a message that we are safe now, she’ll take care of the riffraff? The truth of it is: I will never know.

Even with the back and forth of moving in and out, I’ve managed to keep recording interviews (sometimes in my garage, sometimes in my kitchen) …I just haven’t got up on my editing. HOWEVER, it seems I’ve managing this new-to-me medium pretty consistently for six months. For lack of a podcast that’s ready to publish this week, I invite you back to our beginnings, with Abstract Expressionist artist and brother-from-another-mother, Ty Nathan Clark.

Since our conversation, Ty has been an artist-in-residence in Marfa, TX and has also built a new studio…that looks awesome! Cheers to the best-case environmental glow-up for all the creatives here. This is Ty’s podcast from earlier this year: EPISODE ONE, in case you missed it.

https://artandalchemylab.substack.com/p/ep1-artist-ty-nathan-clark

If you would like to hear more of his musings, Ty is a super-savvy podcast host himself. Check out the JUST MAKE ART podcast. See, I clearly picked the best first guest to get me started. Thanks, brother!

Thank you too, reader. I’m happy you are here. May all the good things come your way.

xoxox

Allison