Wandering Familiar Ways

Over the last year, in my consulting role, I've been working with Central UP Planning & Development and Innovate Marquette on the ORIAN project (Outdoor Recreation Innovation Action Network). Last Friday that work culminated in the first annual UP Outdoor Summit, which went incredibly well. Needless to say, pretty much all my time over the last couple weeks went into preparing for, hosting, and recovering from that event!

I did get my first dip in Superior last week, which is always one of the milestones of the year. It was 90, and a week later there were snowflakes in the air. The UP never lets us forget that there's no such thing as average.

Ink on Paper

Shh, don't tell anyone, but I did find time to put together a print as a thank-you for my ORIAN co-conspirators. This was definitely the most complex one I've attempted to-date. From getting all the little Bowerbox border pieces locked in, to adjusting the platen on the press so it was hitting with even pressure across the whole surface, it pushed my limits in a good way.

Yesterday and today I was in the studio working on the next run of cards, putting together 7 new lock-ups and cutting/folding over 500 blank cards!

Upcoming Events

June 14th - Pride Fest! - Lower Harbor

June 24th - Art Week - "Painting With Words" with my pal Josh Brindle - Marquette Commons

Other Rambles

Thanks to my friend Lane, I fell into Wendell Berry's essay A Native Hill, especially his description of the difference between a path and a road. Paths come from familiarity with the terrain, while roads try to impose themselves on the terrain.

There is a sort of mystery in the establishment of these ways. Anytime one crosses a given stretch of country with some frequency, no matter how wanderingly one begins, the tendency is always toward habit. By the third or fourth trip, without realizing it, one is following a fixed path, going the way one went before.

Honestly, he captures how I feel about the UP. There's so much to explore, dive into, familiarize with here, it'd take more than a lifetime. Which I think is exactly his point.

See you out there,

~PB