Earlier this month, I took a road trip up through Oregon with my family. We stayed with my college roommates outside Sacramento, then wound our way up through Ashland, a town I hadn’t been to since attending the Shakespeare Festival as a freshman in college. From there we headed to Eugene, where my good friend and science illustration program classmate Erika lives. Although Erika and I talk, email, and text a lot, I hadn’t seen her in person in over a decade; it was nice to immediately drop right back into the comfort of this old friendship.
After a brief visit with Erika (and a visit to the very cool Cascades Raptor Center), we hopped back into the car and made our way all the way up to Portland. I had never been to the City of Roses, but was looking forward to exploring (the International Rose Test Garden! Powell’s Books! Tabor Bread!) and meeting up in person with even more people. In particular, I was excited to visit the headquarters of Pomegranate Communications, the publisher that licenses my artwork for puzzles and notecards. I also planned to meet up with a painter acquaintance, Lisa Ericson, and Micah Carr, a recent science illustration grad whom I’d mentored the previous year.
Meeting with the staff at Pomegranate Communications
It felt a little surreal to have my husband and kids drop me off in front of the Pomegranate offices. I’d been working with them for a year and a half or so, but everything had taken place over email and Zoom. It was sort of wild to sign contracts, upload artwork, review proofs, and receive samples of finished products without ever having met the people who worked on the projects, having only written communication with them. It felt removed, in a way. I have worked from home for 17 years now, and while I mostly enjoy it, one thing that I’ve never quite gotten used to is not having anyone to share work milestones with—at least, not in person, in real time. Usually, when I receive an exciting email—I’ve gotten into a juried exhibition, or someone is reaching out to me for an interesting project—it’s just me sitting in my quiet office, and there’s no sense of celebration. Instead, my day rolls along as usual, with work and dishes and dog walks and school pick-up and homework. The day feels “regu-ly”, as my niece would say.
My time in Eugene and Portland was an antidote to that. Meeting the Pomegranate staff, and seeing all the products and proofs, made me feel connected in a way that had been missing before. Having coffee and excellent pastries with Lisa, a fellow nature artist, was also wonderful— we had talked via phone and email before, but it was so much nicer to discuss juggling work and motherhood and painting technique while sitting across from each other in a cozy bakery. Going for a walk to a beautiful park while catching up and eating ice cream with Micah was lovely too. Talking via email or zoom is great, but it’s so flattened compared to a walk in the fall afternoon sunshine. I felt so inspired and full-hearted after these visits, in a way I hadn’t felt in a little while.
At the International Rose Test Garden in Portland
After our time in Portland, we all piled back into the car and returned for a couple more days at Erika’s house. We walked her dog, played Mad Libs with the kids, and had long meandering talks about work and life and projects and travel. (We also introduced her to my favorite lazy weeknight dinner, Snack Plate.) I left with a depth of understanding about her life that I hadn’t had before, just from little things like seeing her studio and garden. That had been true about my time in Portland too—getting to actually be in the Pomegranate offices and meet the people there helped me connect a lot more deeply with the people I’d been working with.
Driving home, we felt a crispness in the air that abated as we got closer to the coast, and before long we were back at home. I was happy to settle back into my quiet little home office, and get myself organized again after the time away. I do like working from home, especially as a working parent and the owner of a high-maintenance border collie. But the Oregon trip reminded me that I need to make a habit of leaving the comfort of my cozy studio to see other people and places. Visiting with friends old and new, and exploring new places, gave me a boost of enthusiasm, a freshness that has me feeling inspired and focused. (Though I wouldn’t mind one of those excellent pastries right about now.)
