The Home Path

Autumn Greens/Blue Licks

My life has been greatly enhanced by a road. Because of this road, David and I have joined a wonderful community of faith at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Paris. I have found a place of simple wonder at Blue Licks State Resort Park which I can return to whenever I need to just stand in the woods or walk a path. I have experienced the serendipity of making music in Mozart Hall, housed in the Neal Building in Carlisle, KY. It is easy to imagine the scene in that hall with touring spectacles coming through town; and the acoustics and atmosphere are amazing! With a mighty throng, I enter the unique world of MaysLick, KY during the Asparagus Festival in May. I taught my first workshop in Flemingsburg, because of connections made along this road. This road extends all the way up to Maysville and continues up into Ohio, all the way to Findlay, where my father spent an important part of his childhood. And, actually, the road heads southwest from Lexington all the way to western Kentucky going by another favorite spot, Land Between the Lakes. By now, if you are a Central Kentuckian, you know which road I am writing about: US Highway 68.

     Of course, I wouldn't have so much experience with this road if David and I had not acquired a retreat on a beautiful little lake in Nicholas County. We bought our place on Lake Carnico in 2000. This was when the Paris Pike expansion began, thus, we were able to see the landscape from a multitude of perspectives as new road was built. Paris Pike is the most beautiful road in the world! I was so enchanted by this road that I used two scenes from this stretch to paint my 2010 Horse Mania horse, Paris Pike. Now the highway is being expanded from Paris to Carlisle, and we can again see the rolling hills from a fresh angle. This is an ever-evolving road, which began with buffalo crossing at a low point in the Ohio River (what would become Maysville) and roaming from salt lick to salt lick, creating traces. There is quite a story to tell and fortunately, now there is a book which thoroughly delves into this story. That book is Kentucky's Frontier Highway: Historical Landscapes along the Maysville Road by Karl Raitz and Nancy O'Malley.  The launching party for this book is a wonderful exhibit at the beautiful Hopewell Museum in Paris, KY: Road Life: Sites and Scenes along Kentucky's First Highway. This exhibit is up through June 2, 2013.

     I am very pleased that I will be the Hopewell Museum's artist for the April 12, 2013 Artwalk. From 5 - 8 pm, I will be nestled within the Road Life exhibit with small paintings, cards and prints. All will feature scenes from along US 68.  I hope that you can stop by to see this wonderful exhibit at the Hopewell along with a sampling of my work!  For more information please check out the Hopewell's website: www.hopewellmuseum.org.