Where is the best place in the US for an artist to live? If you could up and move anywhere, where would you plant your easel? I posed this question to my Facebook friends a few days ago. Over 250 recommendations were shared, and a map of the US was tagged with the most frequent picks. Artists who lived in particular locations for years shared the pros and cons of each place. Oregon is beautiful, but taxes are high and the last place there just sold last week, one artist wrote (she bought it!). Florida is awesome, but prepare for bugs, heat, hurricanes and alligators, another said. New Mexico, Colorado, California, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Flower Mound, Texas were just a few more that came highly recommended. My heart rate picked up at the mention of Asheville, North Carolina; Watercolor, Florida; Fair Hope, Alabama; Mackinac Island, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; Laguna Beach, California; and Camano Island, Washington. Can you imagine being able to pick any of these dream locations, plant your brushes there, and let them bloom?
Are we moving Flower Mound Studio and leaving Texas behind? Truth is, we have had some big changes this year. The dream studio I so hoped for, was put on hold last week due to contractor challenges. Now we are deciding whether to begin the process over again and find a new contractor for the studio addition, buy a second smaller home in a great location, or sell altogether and relocate somewhere new and inspiring. Interestingly, many of you who shared comments based them on whether there would be galleries nearby. Others weighed the choice on whether the type of art in a particular location matched my style, or the distance from an airport. Weather, cost of living, politics, and local flower markets were also weighed and discussed in comments shared. What was the top recommendation? The place that makes you, the artist, the happiest. The exciting news is, since so much of my business is virtual now, I can live almost anywhere (well, almost anywhere within reason, and with easy access to fresh donuts, of course!).
If you have the perfect recommendation and some keen artists’ insights, I would absolutely love to hear from you. There is no point of view more valuable than the point of view from an artist with boots on the ground! I’ve shared the referral map from Facebook here for you. Unless someone activated a tag with their comment, a tag doesn’t show, so it’s not an entirely accurate view of the top choices that were shared. But it sure is fun to see the trends! And it is exciting to have the whole world, and so many possibilities stretching ahead as far as my dreams can reach!
PS – Congratulations to Cheryl Banducci, last week’s blog post comment winner! A million thanks to everyone who shared their survival stories of how they overcame their critics and went on to shine. Cheryl will receive a fine art print of Terra Bianca White Sunflower, and an archival canvas pad for creating beautiful blossoms ’til the cows come home!
PS – See all the sights of my recent trip to Italy in my new monthly online class, The Joyful Brush, I want to take you with me in Petal Perks! Learn more here…
