My last full day in Corris was quite an adventure. I packed up my studio and wanted to take a walk to the Craft Center in Upper Corris. I had read about it before I came to Corris and I thought I would go see what it was all about in person. I had instructions on how to get there from people in the house and it didn't seem that hard to get there. Walk to the end of the road and make a sharp right, then you will get there...
I walked, and walked, and walked. I never saw a sharp right. It felt as though I was on a highway. Cars were flying by me and I had no place to walk besides the road in some parts. I walked in the grass outside of the guard rail when I could. I was very nervous that I was going to get hit, and started to feel nervous that I had also gone the wrong way.
When I came to this waterfall and stream I just knew I had either gone too far or taken a wrong turn so I decided to just turn around and walk back the way I came. Then it started to pour down rain. I was SO GLAD that last minute I decided to throw my backpack on which had my umbrella in it. Rain actually ended up benefitting me because I had a bright yellow umbrella which I waved to oncoming traffic to alert them of my presence on the road! Somehow I felt a surge of confidence as I walked behind the thin yellow fabric. I almost reached the town of Corris when Yuki, the volunteer at Maelor, pulled up in her van and rescued me! She showed me where I made the mistake of veering to the left (which I felt at the time was a straight path) instead of turning right where I should have. She dropped me at the door of the Craft Center and said she would wait a minute until I made sure it was open. Sure enough it was CLOSED FOR THE SEASON!! How ironic! I was so glad she stayed and waited so I didn't have to walk back into town in the rain anymore. What a day. I was gone for hours! We were laughing so hard at my stupidity!
That night we all went out to the pub for dinner at Dolgellau which is a neighboring town. It was so great to have a last hoorah before I left the next day and really made up for the wet wandering I did earlier. The three of us resident artists were joined by Yuki, the volunteer, and Veronica and Mary who are owners and founders of Stiwdio Maelor.
The next morning I took one last walk in the town and said "goodbye" to the local cow who has a huge bellowing "Moo" that I hear from Maelor every day.
I also said "hello" to some rams in a tractor who passed by. I stood and thought to myself, "This is Wales." I had to say goodbye to everything. I went into each room in Maelor and thought of memories in each one. Endings are so hard, but I was so excited to see my family as well which lessened the sting. I have missed them so much!
I will have one last blog post for my residency that will tie it all up in a bow. But until then, here are some detail shots of the last painting that I did in Wales.
