Back Roads and All the Art!

Would you believe this week is our 199th episode of Spill the Beans? Enjoy!!!

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I've told you before about my friend Amber, who is an incredible artist. Even though I'm not an artist and am often not smart enough to properly understand art, I do appreciate it, and I like supporting Amber in her adventures. So when she asked if I wanted to go with her on a back roads studio tour for artists in Brown County, I said sure!

Brown County is about two hours south of here, and it's beautiful country - especially in the fall. (Fun fact: seven years go, the day after Ryan proposed, we drove to Brown County for the day to hike and plan our wedding. And there I was, seven years to the day later, back again!) This year the leaves haven't turned yet, and none of us are quite sure if they will. Our hot, dry, extended summer may just cause them to turn brown and fall off without hitting their true peak. But it was still a fun and fallish day to travel!

Amber drove, and I navigated/caffeinated.

I guess I didn't really explain the premise of the trip, did I? So Brown County is not only beautiful, but it's the home of many artists. It's the sort of place that inspires creativity, so many artists live there year round, and others have second homes/studios there to escape to when they need to exercise creativity. All throughout the month of October, visitors can go on a self-guided tour that takes them to the homes and studios of many of these artists. You can see where they work, purchase some of their creations, and have a great time. And when it says back roads tour? It means back roads. I lost my cell signal MULTIPLE times out there.

Amber had pre-marked the map with the stops she definitely wanted to make, so between the map and the GPS, I would like you to know we only got lost ONCE!

Our first stop was at this magnificent building that the artist built himself. All the wood came from the trees that were cut down to make room for the building, and he even made the wheel himself!

He does metal work (as you might gather, since he made the wheel) and he had some awfully cute little things.

Yes! Some of those are turtles made out of tiny cast iron pans!

This was also the stop where they had a litter of chocolate lab puppies that I absolutely SWOONED over. Ryan told me later he figures I want a chocolate lab just because the word chocolate is in the name. I mean...he might not be wrong. ;) I didn't want to be the crazy picture lady and ask for a picture of the puppies, so just Google, scroll, and melt.

We also went to a shop where the artist worked with wood, and oh my goodness - the amazing smell of all the sawdust!!! Loved that! He had everything from cutting boards and coasters to big pieces of furniture. It was pretty wonderful!

There were also a couple of guys set up in his yard, under tents, doing some metalwork. One of them gave each of us a little ring he'd made from a horseshoe nail. Creative!

I didn't take pictures at every stop, because sometimes the artists were hanging out with us, and I didn't want to appear to be a creeper or an art-concept-stealer, but there were some super cute things!

We also found a road named "The Less Traveled Road" and we were going to get a picture with the sign. But there wasn't one. How unfair is that?

But we did go to this one place I have to tell you about - especially if any of you have kids or homeschool. This would be a GREAT field trip place. We didn't get to fully explore it, because you had to pay an admission fee to go down into the gardens and into some of the buildings, but we had fun with what we found in between our car and the office!

It's the T.C. Steele Historic site, and it's part of the Indiana State Museum. The lady in the office told us that T.C. Steele was the first artist to settle in the area and devote his life and time to making art. (Apparently the area farmers found him to be rather odd for sitting and painting all day.) His property is now this beautiful area that you can explore, and there are some really fun things there for kids and overgrown kids. :)

There was this little mini studio that I think was supposed to be a replica of what he used as an actual studio. (And yes, that is a Little Free Library out in front there.)

You could try on smocks and try your hand at some different art activities in and around the wagon.

It was a fun stop! And if you do have kids and go on a nice day, there are trails to explore and the whole bit!

Our last stop was at a sculptor's studio. Amber had met her at other art shows and she was really welcoming. The little stone house was my FAVORITE.

After we finished at that studio, we headed back home. It was a fairly uneventful drive except for one stretch of construction, where we narrowly avoided being in an accident. Major props to Amber for her defensive driving skills that kept us safe! She exercised quick thinking and creative driving and we stayed all in one piece!

So that was our fun day out! :)

(Ryan was at work and then helped my Dad cut down a tree, so he wasn't with us. That was the only sad part of the day!)