Pokai Bay Designs

Creativity requires vacations from Creating May 25, 2011

It has become obvious that the creative part of our brains need a vacation or perhaps new inspiration away from the studio and usual tasks that we humans require to maintain our place in this world.

During the late winter and early spring we headed south — and played snow bird. Ironically as we headed south we encountered huge RVs heading north. Perhaps farmers heading home to prepare the fields? Since we are soon to be owners of a tiny 17 foot Fiberglass trailer, I find that I notice all the farm houses with trailers. These trailers are the very large ones — 30 feet or more. Of course farm have trucks and why not take the farm truck on vacation?

We only have a small pick-up, with a recently rebuilt engine. Fuel efficient small truck that can pull a small trailer. Really this trailer has everything we need:   beds, stove, furnace, bathroom and shower, oh and the kitchen sink. Before we headed south we researched small travel trailers and liked the under 20 foot fiberglass egg shaped trailers.

Death Valley is to blame for the trailer. I swear two nights in Death Valley was the tipping point. As a kid I was a happy car tent camper. My family pitched tents all over the Hawaiian Islands and when I was in High School we tent camped in Yosemite and the Sierra Mountains and in beach parks. Two years ago I introduced the spousal unit to car camping. We had a great time at my favorite place — Death Valley. Two years ago in February, it was warm, there was NO wind.

This time our visit to Death Valley we got to know the Desert rain storm and the desert wind storm. Suddenly the folks in trailers and assorted RVs seemed very smart. They were warm and snug and eating real meals, while we ate snacks (no cooking involved) in the truck. The tent was pitched before the rain hit, so we had a dry night, once our soaking wet clothes were removed. No one mentioned in guide books that foul weather gear useful on sailboats might be of use in Death Valley. The next night the gale winds hit, our dome tent dented and groaned but remained intact. We, however, barely slept a wink. Again the small Fiberglass trailer a couple of rows over looked really good.

After the second night we decided to go directly to Phoenix and then head to the Fiberglass trailer showroom in the dreaded state of Texas. We had already done the research and sent for the sales brochures from several companies and had narrowed our choice to three.

Note that I’m really not involved in any real creative projects. I have my drop spindle and some spinning fibers. I also had some sock yarn with crochet hooks. But there was simply no time, no place to create objects of art that speak from my soul. From time to time I would think that I should be doing something arty or even crafty — but that’s impossible when we have several hundred miles to go before the next motel.

Thankfully other artists managed to remain in their studios and produce fantastic pieces of jewelry, ceramic art, fiber art, mixed media art works — that my mind and eyes were kept constantly busy. If only I were a CEO being paid millions — I’d have one of the finest collections of contemporary western & southwestern artwork.

Museums generally have shops and very often the manager is able to bring together a collection of local artists with fresh and unique pieces of art. Shops in Museums of the Southwest are my favorite place to visit.

The desert Southwest is full of eye candy, and every day can be an inspiration. I constantly take photos — and these serve to rekindle my creative juices when I return to the dark grey, mostly overcast skies of the Northwest.

We put a deposit down on a 17 foot Fiberglass trailer. My husband has upgraded his small pickup with towing gear and electrical connections etc.

In October we embark on a long snowbird season in the Southwest. Our focus are the Indian ruins of the Four Corners region: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. We’ve been to Chaco Canyon and will return to revisit after extensive research into the Chaco culture. This year we visited Hoovenweep which is almost dead square in the four corners, with segments in at least two states, Utah and Colorado.

Hoovenweep was an outlier of the Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) sphere of influence and control. Chaco Canyon (Anasazi) started about 900 A.D. and ended about 1300 A.D. No photograph can do justice to Chaco Canyon (National Monument). What is interesting and part of the mystery is that suddenly from pit house dwellings there is a jump to gigantic multi- room, multi-story buildings. On one side of the river there are small stone dwellings (and a huge Kiva). This could be the workers villages. On the other side of the river are ruins that still command respect and awe. Hundreds of rooms per ruin. But the greatest puzzle — where are the cemeteries? With many of the Chaco related ruins the question is — were are the bodies? Who were the people who created Chaco?

There are theories and some modern day tribes are lying claim to the Anasazi/Chaco. They didn’t disappear, claim the modern Pueblo cultures. That is one theory — I’m exploring other theories as well.