Back home or at least back in my house in Kansas.

After a long haul across the western half of the country, I’ve landed, for now, back in Kansas. Though I live here, “home” is a word I’ve never quite settled into comfortably. Returning to my home state, even briefly, brought a sense of grounding I didn’t know I needed.

These photos were taken on the second day of our trip. Quiet moments captured between the stormfront and the sagebrush. I shot them with future paintings in mind, framing color palettes, textures, and lighting that tugged at something familiar. The red dirt, thistle blooms, wide sky that always feels like it could tip over are all things I would like to incorporate into my works.

The full journey spanned over 2,000 miles in just a few days. We rolled from the middle of Kansas to Oklahoma, looped back, then made a straight push through Colorado to Wyoming and Utah hitting Idaho before Oregon and finally reaching Washington. The drive was a blur of heat, gas station coffee, and changing scenery. It was exhausting but and deeply inspiring.

I’m hoping to eventually build out a system that lets me post more actively while I’m on the road. Right now, I don’t have the setup to do that so editing photos, uploading artwork, and writing posts all have to wait until I’m stationary again. Ideally, I’d invest in a travel ready editing setup (dreaming of a decent laptop here) so I can stay connected and keep creating no matter where I am. The road feeds my work, and the longer I can be on it, the more stories I can tell.

Until then, I’m doing what I can with where I am. More art is on the way with some of it born right out of the dusty shoulders and twilight skies you see in my photos.

Thanks for riding along,

MERC

Back Home, Sort of

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