On the Road Again

Well, as the song goes, ” On the road again…” and no better way to start than to have our first post-COVID event be the Tour of the Battenkill. As many of you know, this is the event that started it all for DUG Art back in 2011. So, even as we started to load the Transit with panels and art, the mixture of excitement, nostalgia, and apprehension engulfed us.

The mixture of emotions built as we crossed the hills into the Hudson River valley reaching a crescendo first when passing through Cambridge NY and finally with the sight of the Washington County Fairgrounds.

Many of you are familiar with the feelings we were experiencing, the same ones that well up prior to the start of any event where you know you will be tested physically, mentally and emotionally. Though my racing days of forty plus years ended some time ago, those feelings were alive and well as I tried to anticipate how folks would respond to my work.

However, I needn’t have worried. From the moment we opened the doors to our van we were surrounded by old friends who either have worked the event forever, or have been collectors and old-time supporters of my work for so many years as well. The mutual gratitude of seeing each other again is not something I will ever forget.

Then, of course, there is the other branch of the clan, those who we have become close to through their support of my efforts and the collecting my work. As of this writing, I have not gained approval from these individuals to use their names, but in future posts, I will refer to some of the moments of exchange I have had with them that have fueled so much of the creative energy I ALWAYS gain after our visits.

There is something very special about these conversations that often start with either the immediate impression made about a piece of work OR how an art exhibit happens to be at a cycling event in the first place. This often leads to interactions that take fascinating turns far flung from either the work that started the conversation to begin with, or the sport of cycling at all.

Over the coming weeks I will be sharing aspects of these interactions that have touched me. Most will have their genesis from a particular artwork – though not all. Some will tug at your heart strings, some will tickle your funny bones and – I hope – some will add some knowledge about the hows and whys of what I do.

Lastly, I am SO glad so many of you enjoyed this year’s Battenkill poster. I have entitled it, “Road to Righteousness”. For those of you I have not explained this title to, I will let you conjure…