Inspiration in unlikely places

Never in my life did I think my creativity would be rejuvenated in a jail cell, but that’s just what happened. But before you start thinking I’m a delinquent, let me explain myself.

I’ve been vocal about my battle with creative burnout and lately it’s been exhausting me. I began to think back to my days of painting and drawing and felt guilty and overwhelmed that I’ve let that creative outlet fall by the way side. But this time, instead of pushing it back in the depths of my brain again, I did something about it.

I had routinely driven past Workhouse Art Center on my way to 95S and had always forgotten to check out what they had to offer. This was the perfect time to look into the place. What had once been a workhouse for Lorton Prisoners was now a clean, bright-looking set of art studios! Immediately, I signed up for an Encaustic workshop with Lynda Ray, a talented artist and Encaustic teacher.

The Workhouse had a beautiful, eerie feeling to it as I walked the well manicured grounds. They have done everything they can to eliminate the feeling of a “prison” but you can’t help to think of the history of this place and wonder what of the past still remains. The studios are remodeled to fit the needs of resident artists and classes like my own but the original workhouse structures still remain—as do the holes in the bricks that I imagine were once the joints of cell walls.

And there in what may have once been someone’s cell, the burden of being creative as my profession was lifted as I painted with wax pigments and began to remember what it felt like again for art to be “fun!” Not wanting that feeling to disappear again, I immediately went home and set upon the task of creating my own Encaustic studio. It has taken some time and money but I’ve been able to recreate my own escape from the world. It may not be a prison cell, but the small spare bedroom will do just fine.