“A Nostalgic Route”

A New Collection Capturing Memories of the Familiar

October…

Along this route there are wide open skies and endless fields.

Sunlight filters through the branches of live oak trees lining the two lane highway, and the speed limit rarely goes above 45 mph. The season is changing now, it’s cooler, less humid. Windows come down so that the view of grazing cattle in the fields to the left and right are unhindered by a tinted glass plane. A child in the back seat asks questions… she does not know about the life I lived here before her. She does not understand the connection I have to this place. That this was where I spent the phase of my life before I became a wife, a mother…an adult.

How many times have I driven this route? How many times have I passed these landmarks, permanently etched into my memory? They were the ones written down for me that very first time I took the trip back: “Left at the corner mart onto 301…dead end into Penny farms and turn right…Last gas station for a while so stop if you need to….” scribbled onto a piece of paper before cell phone GPS was a thing.

Nostalgia is such a powerful emotion. It’s universal and we’ve all felt it at times. But I feel it particularly in the fall. So when I made this trip back to my home town I suddenly wanted to pull over and really take in the fields, the side roads, and the landmarks I’ve passed so many times before. As my little one watched from the car window I tromped through fields to photograph seemingly random trees and paths, and slowly the inspiration for this collection was born.

I returned at some point to paint on location, hoping to solidifying within me my reasons for wanting to capture these scenes on canvas.

Now, back in my studio, I work to perfect each of these pieces layer by layer. I look around at my space filling up with memories captured on canvas of both the place of my youth and the route taken to get there. It makes me smile.

Each painting of this collection gives an ode to a particular memory I have, but also leaves room for you to attach your own. As these pieces find their permanent places into the homes of others, I hope that a positive and nostalgic memory is triggered and attached to the scenes by the new collectors.

Xo

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The Nostalgic Route Collection will be released Monday, November 8th, 2021

Studio Subscribers will receive exclusive early access to this collection and a special discount code, sign up below.

Images taken by Och + Ko Photography Studio or Chanell Joy herself