Art not happening? Dig deeper

I was making headway on four big collages, but my production has stalled out. It makes me feel a little stabby.

I sealed the rust onto these old railroad spikes, while it was still dry and sunny outside.

I got the aged maps attached to the boards, even got holes drilled at angle (which is hard!) in the smaller panels. But I'm having trouble on the mom front: TwoBoo's on a waitlist for after-school day care at his new school, among other issues. Very little studio time. I've been anxious and frustrated most of the week.

But I had a fantastic time observing an actual archaeological dig last month!

Students from Evergreen State College, led by Dr. Ulrike Krotscheck, have discovered thousands of artifacts from the Bush Prairie Farm.

The most exciting thing to me: the original homesteaders in 1845, George and Isabella Bush, were an African American/Irish man and his white wife. But people of African descent weren't allowed to own property then: remember, this was before the American Civil War. It took their white friends in the territorial legislature and a literal act of Congress to grant the Bushes their own property title.

I was going to finish the big collage panels, and then make smaller collages using the archaeology photos. But it might be better to switch up those plans. Huh. Funny: I'd be using a literal dig to help me dig deeper into my art practice.