South West Business © 2011 Bo Mackison

Yesterday, the signs seemed to all point to one thing — South West Business. I even had assistance from a road sign in southwestern Wisconsin that was just one more reminder that I am traveling south, and west, and on business!

I love this sign – I take this road sign as a SIGN that I am on the right course in my journey! I am heading to the Southwest where I have plenty of business to manage.

The idea of exhibiting my art on the art fair circuit is a bit daunting, especially when I look at the whole picture. Traveling 1800 miles one way, setting up my art booth in a strange area, and then later this week, exhibiting my photography at the five day Tubac Festival of the Arts. It sends shivers of excitement up and down my spine, and shivers of apprehension, too.

I’ve done art shows in the Midwest. I’m a Midwestern, born and bred, though sometimes I think the gods screwed up and I should have been born a desert rat as much as I seek sun and warmth. So now I’m adding shows in the Southwest.  It seems like a good alternative to waiting out the blizzards in Wisconsin and Illinois, waiting until May to start doing art fairs again. It seems like a solid business decision. After all, it makes good sense – me away from the gray of winter at the time of year when the weather most affects my moods, me using my time profitably to add a few shows, and me challenging myself to live solo for a couple of months.

I’ll admit the few hours before we left Madison yesterday were the most difficult. I roamed rooms, looked out every window in the house, carried my black cat in my arms as she purred and as I worried about how much I would miss Jazz and how much she might miss me. After all, I’m her people. And while the cat sitter, and then Sherpa, will do a commendable job of caring for her, I’m the one Jazz comes to for a cuddle, or a treat, or a warm lap for a nap.

I began having second and third and fourth thoughts, and I was teary eyed when we were finally all packed and drove away from the house. Sure, I know it’s only two months. But at that moment, two months sounded like eternity.

And then, serendipitously, I saw this highway sign. South. West. Business. Like a message from the Universe, or at least from Wisconsin’s Highway Department, a not so subtle sign encouraging me to push on, to pursue my dreams.

Today we travel through a bit more of Iowa, then Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. As for me, I’m holding steady and keeping the compass on SW!

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She will be living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Visit as she writes about living and working in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”