“All that is best in the great poets of all countries is not what is national in them, but what is universal.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” — Buddha

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” — Henry Miller

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” — Martin Buber

Can I just insert a boggled face here and be done with it? No? We’ve got just over two weeks before we move and I can tell you, things are getting messy. As I type it’s already mid-afternoon. The light is starting to fade and I’ve just eaten breakfast. We are racing against the clock while ignoring it as best as we can. The artwork is coming down from the studio walls, and there isn’t much to show you today, unless you want to watch me pay out royalties. I do this quarterly as I don’t like holding other folk’s money. Other publishers have told me I’m mad as a hatter. That’s okay. I probably am. But six months is too long to make authors wait for their money anyway.

Because there’s nothing much happening in the studio today, I’ll instead tell you who and what is keeping me inspired. Right now I wish I could forget about work until we get to France. That was the plan, but since I’m about two months behind with work, I really can’t stop until the moment the computers come down and the last piece of paper has been packed. It’s hard working in the midst of the unreal clutter in this house and in my mind, so I’m relying on friends, colleagues, and strangers to keep me going.

We’re moving to France, so I’ll start with this blog: French word a day, run by Kristin Espinasse. Kristin uses the story-telling method of teaching, including French words and phrases in short tales of her life in France. She’s writing about ordinary things, the kind of things we all encounter in our daily lives. This could come in very useful quite soon. It also gives me a glimpse of a different region of the country I’ll be calling home.

In another example of perfect timing, the other day Dora Goss linked to Domythic Bliss, a new blog about mythic interior decorating. This site is also going to come in very handy in the days to come, but for now it’s giving me plenty of ideas. Be sure to read Dora’s post about the site, too. What story will our house tell about us? When I’m not working, I’m daydreaming up answers to that question.

Early last week Katherine Langrish wrote about The Value of Mythic Thinking. I could stay lost for days on Katherine’s website, but this piece stuck with me. “The truth that you get from a story is different from the truth of a proven scientific fact.” Yes! And both kinds of truths are of equal worth.

Late last week Terri Windling shared some wonderful quotes about books (obviously a favorite subject of mine) in The Joy of Books. The delightful video of the same name has been making the rounds of the online bookbinding community, so I’d seen it already. It’s really the quotes Terri has chosen that bring it all together for me.

Finally, click through to The Binder’s Ticket for a photo of a gorgeous custom book bag, with copper rivets and hand-stitched seams. There are many more treasures to be found on the site, including this post about a new floor in the bindery. We’ve got a cement floor to deal with, too, and this solution is very tempting.

And finally, if you haven’t seen it already, do watch the video posted in thanks to those who donated to the Magick 4 Terri auction. It’s an amazing look at what happens when myth comes to life.

Over at wildmuse.net my friend Aria has made a wonderful post about artists and their spaces, using the work of Fumio Tachibana for illustration. As anyone reading this blog knows, this topic is currently dear to my heart as I demolish my own studio in preparation for a move. I’m so glad Aria has brought this up. Her timing is perfect and I hope she writes more about this subject as her insights are always incredibly helpful.

I have always prided myself on being able to work wherever I am, as long as I have my basic tools at hand. I showed you these tools in Studio Tuesday #5. As long as I’ve got those by my side, and a bit of paper, I’m good to go. However, having a dedicated space in which to create without interference and disruption is also hugely important to the work and well-being of the artist. I’m fairly certain that part of my chaotic mental state right now is due to the fact that my studio is vanishing before my eyes. The studio is an extension of the artist. Sometimes it seems like I am vanishing before my eyes. (The ridiculous amount of email I have to answer says otherwise.)

Of course the walls are still there, and the things I’ve hung on the wall to inspire me are still there. My desk is as much of a mess as it ever is. But the space is growing bigger around me, emptier. If I think of the studio as an oil painting, then what is happening is the layers are being stripped away. We’ll be down to the gesso in no time, and then we’ll leave the entire canvas behind. I’ll no longer have the secure cushion of everything that enables me to create as I have done for the last few years. This is both liberating and a little frightening.

For me, the way through it is to keep in mind that phrase “to create as I have done”. If I go into the future thinking for one minute that the way I create and do my job in France will be anything like it has been since I set up the studio in the UK, it will lead to disaster. There is power in a blank canvas, even in the empty easel upon which the canvas will be placed. There is potential, and possibility. That potential is perhaps the ground on which the easel stands.

The other day artist Rima Staines shared a new symbol for 2012: rise and root. This symbol speaks to me about my own future. It sums up the why of what we are doing. Dis and I have both had enough of concrete sidewalks, of glaring lights in the night, of the ridiculous pressure to conform to a society of ladders (housing, social, etc) with which we inherently disagree. We want the greening rural France will offer us.

For me this is a beautiful expression of why my studio is vanishing, why I am putting myself through this chaos, and why it must be done. Thank you, Rima! I will take this and run.

Happy 2012! Can you believe it? I can’t. Last year flew by — and good riddance to it.

There was no Studio Tuesday last week, but I didn’t expect there to be what with the general chaos the holidays bring. We usually celebrate Christmas even though we aren’t Christians. I like the idea of a winter feast, a gathering of friends and/or family, something warm and inviting to break up this cold, slow season.

This year was a little different. We hardly noticed the holiday approaching. We have a pile of boxes where the tree should have been, and we didn’t bother hanging lights. It also happened that close friends of ours experienced a great tragedy early in the week before Christmas, one that hit very close to home. Tomorrow we have a funeral to attend. The coffin will be very small. Our hearts are well and truly broken, and I still don’t trust myself to communicate much. I have not been well at all.

As for the studio, forget it for this week. Until a few minutes ago I couldn’t even get to my desk. The other day I made the biggest pile of stuff ever. Today we finished packing it all up, so tomorrow I’ll be back at the desk and the binding table. As expected in the weeks before a big move, everything is a mess. And that’s okay.

We are so looking forward to this new year and with it, our new life in France. I’ll be spending the next few days getting caught up with work that got put aside through the holidays. If you’re waiting to hear from me, don’t worry. I’ll be back with you soon.