Maria and I both believe that there is really no boundary between art and life, one fuels and informs the other. Since we reached an agreement with the bank to keep the farmhouse that we love, Maria has begun re-imagining our hours, seeing it as a living art project, a place where her brilliant artistic instincts can live and come to life.

I would never think to re-imagine or bathroom, or paint the living room ceiling. Whatever creativity I have is in words and ideas, not visual imagery (okay, sometimes in photos.) It is a privilege and a wonderful thing to see this kind of talent emerging in Maria and to try and support it, and also to see it take form all around me, in the life I am living.

You can see to the right the wall mural she is working on, up above, the ceiling she repainted yesterday, and today, she is painting the big dining room table. First, we sanded the table, now are putting up a coat of primer. In an hour or so, we will paint it salmon red (or pink, maybe).  She thought of this color, I like it. She keeps asking me what I think, and I tell her, but I know this is her art, her project, her imagination running wild.

When she undertakes a project like this, it consumes her, I see the obsessive part of the writer and the artist. I have it, I woke up this morning hearing from the horses again, and I have been writing all morning about the power of words to affect change. Sometimes I think the roof of the house will blow off when we are both at it. More later, I’m going to help painting the table.