Artist residency at Sou'Wester Lodge
I'll be doing an artist residency at the Sou'Wester Lodge this whole week. I'm using this time to isolate myself, detox from everyday drudgery, and tap into my creative side in order to work on the following: designs for my spring/summer stationery line, a revamp of my website, new pricing guides, and a redesigned wholesale catalogue. I also want to use the time to think about the future of my business and make some decisions on next steps I have been tossing around since the New Year (much help thanks to the feedback from my customer survey).
While the residency is not actually that far from my studio, I want it to feel remote. I won't have a car and I will cook all of my meals, even though there are great restaurants within walking distance. I'm going to limited my caffeine intake each day and try to solely eat whole foods. I'm bringing lots of stationery to write long-overdue letters to pen pals. I plan to bring design books to turn to during breaks, listen to more inspirational podcasts, and reduce my screen time to exclusively work-related projects. I will only be checking my email once a day. I really struggle with time management, so I'm hoping the imposed lack of distractions will help me focus and accomplish all of my goals--both professional and personal. Cedar, my pup, will be joining me and I'm looking forward to daily therapeutic walks on the beach and evening snuggles with him. I'm also going to indulge myself in self-care time--something desperately lacking from my day-to-day--with their Finnish sauna, yoga classes, and a deep-tissue massage (on-site!). I'm hoping over the course of my time there I can help establish a lasting, more focused daily ritual.
While I'm going to use the residency as an opportunity to unplug from social media and recharge, occasionally I'll be posting glimpses of my stay in one of the lodge's vintage trailers (!) and my design process on my Instagram stories. Hope you'll follow along and root me on this journey!
Image from Sou'wester Lodge