Creative Road Trip: Ansel Adams + Nachos
ansel_adams_reynolda
2016-06-16 15.36.56
2016-06-16 15.40.53
I have always considered myself to be a fairly creative person. I used to paint furniture for fun, relished the chance to mess around with my camera, bead jewelry and for a brief brief moment, fancied myself a knitter (never moved past scarves).Did you see that 'used to' in there? Yeah. That's a problem. Recently, the day-to-day reality of running a growing business has left me feeling a little, well, uninspired.Enter The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem and an Ansel Adams exhibit.But first, a little set up: My eyes were opened to photography as an art form at Grosse Pointe South High School by an incredible teacher and artist, Jack Summers. I quickly developed a deep love of the medium, especially black and white photography. I loved the darkroom, the chemicals, the myriad of ways one can manipulate the end result. As part of the course work, we learned about artists. My favorite was Ansel Adams.I had never seen his work in person, so as I was looking for a creative kick in the pants, the timing of the Reynolda exhibit couldn't have been more perfect. I gave myself permission to take the afternoon off -- no responsibilities other than to soak in the Adams work.The Eloquent Light exhibit was a collection of 40 images never shown together, highlighting his love of the National Park system (celebrating its 100th anniversary this year) along with his mastery and willingness to experiment.I was struck by the relatively small size of most of the images (like 8x10 or smaller) and by the quiet beauty of the artwork and the gallery. So much depth, layering and detail in such a small package.Unfortunately, I was also struck by how my default setting is rush rush rush. I lost track of how many times I looked at my watch while in the gallery. Or got impatient with people taking "too long" in front of an image I wanted to see. I had to consciously force myself to slow down. I put my phone in airplane mode and reminded myself that I had no place to be but here. Really.I walked through the historic 60-room "bungalow-style" home listening to the audio tour. Then I went back through the Adams exhibit again. By the time I finished and walked the grounds of the home, I was no longer worried about time, obligations or being in a rush. So much passion on display through art and architecture, it was inspiring.And it made me hungry. Next stop? The Porch Kitchen & Cantina, which was hard to find, but so very worth it for a later afternoon break featuring beer, a book and food.How can you go wrong with art and nachos? You can't, especially when the day away from work does just what it should: Help you stop, think, inspire and reset.