One wall in the studio is in flux. Color swatches are in place for a bright pink base color which might form a new base for this tableau. A clipboard to do list is in place to keep track of things that need to get done. An articulated manakins hand holds the rope for a bulb which is now encased in an elegant grass paper shade that resembles a blooming flower. The ight casts dark shadows on the ceiling from the skulls giving an ominous and mysterious feeling to that corner of the room.

For the first time I am writing an article on my 8.5 by 11 inch iPad. I usually write on my laptop which has lots of memory and ram to handle any animation I might do. However now that I am packing for a trip to Europe, I realize that all that memory comes with too much weight. With the laptop and iPad packed in my backpack, I feel I might fall backwards with my backpack turtle shell weighing me down. I am traveling to Oregon for the Wild River Film Festival where my film. COVID Dystopia might be having its final screening. People really don’t want to face the brash reality this film portrays. They certainly do not want to consider the premise that COVID is not done with us. I usually mask on airplane flights. But my new N-95 masks have not arrived yet. I might fave this flight naked, while listening to people hack up their lungs around me.

I was considering bringing by European backpack on this Oregon trip but the United Airlines website informed me that I would have to check the backpack although. I decided to scale down and only bring my artist day bag to shove under the seat in fronts of me. I abandoned my large sketchbook for this trip but I am bringing my new artist chair which worked great in Oklahoma City. I guess I will be doing laundry each evening in the hotel sink. Since this policy was hidden until after the ticket was purchased, I will never again fly United Airlines. I will be flying Delta to France.

All my sketchbook and everything I own will soon go into storage, so I am learning how to live with less. I am frightened and thrilled by what might lay ahead. It is up to me to make the most out of every day of this 6 month trip. I will be exploring the history of what played out exactly 80 years ago. I hope to capture hints of what has remains the same and what has not changed. Greed and ruling through fear remain the same. I am curious how Europeans feel about America today as opposed to the America that liberated them from Nazi rule 80 years ago. I was told I should wear a baseball cap with the 75th Infantry insignia. The older generation might treat me different given the history.