We Are All Stories an original mixed media on 36″ x 36″ canvas by SassyHat (Chasidy Hathorn)

Hey, y’all! Welcome to Sweet Sorghum Living–a place to sit a spell with a good cup of coffee and enjoy good conversation about everything from gluten-free goodness to home renovation projects. Today on the blog, we are chatting about the Journeys of Women Art Show taking place in Jonesborough, Tennessee at the McKinney Center from September 9-17. This exhibit is open to the public + the works are for sale with a portion of the sales going to the Women’s Fund of East Tennessee.  For more information about the show and how it helps to transform the lives of low-income women in East Tennessee, click here to read “Journeys of Women Art Show: For Women, by women” in the Johnson City Press.

It is such a blessing and an honor to be part of this amazing show, and I cannot even begin to express how excited I am to have my works in the same space with such incredibly talented artists.

Empty Nest an original mixed media on canvas by SassyHat (Chasidy Hathorn) will be on exhibit at the Journeys of Women Art Show from September 9-17 at the McKinney Center in Historic Jonesborough, Tennessee.

When I began painting Empty Nest, I was trying to deal with my only child getting ready to move away to Emory & Henry College in Virginia. To be honest, I had no intention of ever showing this painting because it was filled with all of my emotions…tears…chaos. As I painted, I thought about how we nurture our children so that one day they will fly…they will leave the nest. But, the nest is never really empty. If you look closely, there is an imprint of that egg…that will never go away because of all of the love…because of all of the wonderful memories. Yes, it is very hard to let them go…to let them fly, but it is part of the natural process + how wonderful it is to see them soar!

This 12″ x 12″ mixed media on canvas by SassyHat (Chasidy Hathorn) is part of the “We Are All Stories” series–an original series inspired by storytelling (especially Southern tales), red barns, quilts, and red barns with quilts.

“We are all stories in the end, so let’s make them good ones.” That statement pretty much sums up the We Are All Stories series and why I created it! I have always loved a good story. My blog was inspired by my love of porch sitting and storytelling + coffee drinking. So, I had no choice but to paint and create what I loved most. I wanted this series to be child-like…whimsical…a bit catawampus. I wanted it to be full of color…rich with texture…splashes of humor here and there. I wanted people to look at the red barn and remember a red barn they had seen as a kid or to remember playing in their grandparents’ barn…or remember when they worked at their parents’ barn…picking cotton or harvesting tobacco.  I wanted people to sit a spell and really look at these paintings…to read the words…to see the little details. My hope is they smile as they observe…that they will begin to tell a story about a barn or a quilt or their beloved grandmother.

Yes, as parents, we are all going to be empty nesters one day (that is our goal *wink*), and we are all  going to be stories in the end, so let’s make each and every moment count…let’s embrace each other…let’s take time to sit a spell and really talk and listen (that means putting down those phones, closing those laptops, and turning off the TV)…let’s make sure that our stories and our children’s stories are good ones *big smile*

Thanks so much for sitting a spell with me today! I would love to hear your empty nest, barn, or quilt stories, so please feel free to share them with me in the comment section here or on Facebook because there is nothing better than good stories with great friends *smile*