The 100 Day Project #47

Come Sit with Me

Cornish, NH, 2018

The 100 Day Project, Day 47

Mike and I go camping as often as the demands of life allow. We tend to turn our trips into road trips — moving through new regions, staying a night or two in each place, stopping at as many national historic sites and landmarks as we can find.

A few years ago we roamed the northeast — the Catskills, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts — with no particular agenda beyond curiosity and a tent.

I made this photograph in the gardens of Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in New Hampshire. The home, studio, gardens, and grounds of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens are preserved and worth the visit. As an artist and student of art history, places like this feel sacred to me. The life's work of an artist, protected and preserved. The spaces where they lived and made their art, kept intact so that others can walk through and feel something of what it meant to be there.

We were wandering the grounds when we found a hidden walled garden made entirely of hedges. Inside, five small benches arranged in an imperfect circle. An invitation.

We sat for a while. Listening. That kind of quiet is its own preservation — a moment held still.

I think about what we choose to preserve and what we let go. The places, the objects, the practices, the stories. I believe that preservation is an act of love.

About the 100 Day Project: A global creative challenge where thousands of artists share a piece of their practice every single day for 100 days. I'm joining creatives around the world, and I'm excited to bring you along. Each day I'll be sharing one of my photos — some recent, some old, and some from my current project — along with the story behind it: where I was, who I was with, and why I love it.