{May 2019} The Gator Farm

This month has been a B-L-E-S-S-I-N-G.

Hot springs, Arkansas is truly a hidden gem if you’ve never been.  The whole place is built on crystals underground and offers free water to its residents from the springs at various pumps located around the city. When I got to town, I looked up places to paint and decided on the local petting zoo based on my love for all things animal. I had a plan B and even a plan C in case the owners of the zoo weren’t open to my ideas. Little did I know that everyone in this city is open to most ideas and especially art. Getting the ok for my mural at my preferred location was just the beginning. There is a lady that walks her dog, Blue, past the zoo twice a day and her and I became friends almost automatically. I learned later that she is an Aquarius, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. I too am an Aquarius and notice that I am always drawn to other Aquaria. Her name is DJ, and she owns an upholstery shop a block from my mural sight. One evening, while packing up my supplies, I was feeling discouraged about not making much progress on setting up my grid in order to transfer my image to the wall. DJ was walking by with Blue and she explained that she also had a similar experience and worked all day on a difficult chair project. We both helped each other see the bright side and I felt better immediately knowing I wasn't alone. The following morning she rolled up in her white van with two clementines and a crystal from her backyard! I tucked that crystal in my waistband and it has provided me with lasting energy for my entire stay so far. Dj and I have spent a lot of time together, but she isn’t the only friend I’ve made. I signed up for the cities Arts in the Park Festival and sold some of my canvas art to the locals. I made friends with the most prominent mural artist here, Giuseppe, who helped me so much with setting up my grid and with wall prep. I also had the pleasure of meeting John Cooksey, who invited me to their local television broadcast Hello, Hot springs where I was able to share my story with a larger audience. John also offered to let me stay at his air bnb for free, so I have been living it up here, and just enjoying all that this place has to offer. The only thing I haven’t made it around to doing is spending some time at their national parks, which I will get to soon; I’ve just been so busy painting. I did experience heat stroke a few days ago for not being mindful of my hydration and so I’ve had to take some down time, but I am feeling much better. Looks like this mural will take me about another two weeks and then I’ll be back in Indiana working on some commissions and visiting my family.

Feeling so grateful for the connections I have made here and for the location of my mural, which is a high traffic area and getting a lot of attention so far!

Thanks for reading and I will check in with guys next month!

All my love,

America

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