This time last year... | Northwest Arkansas Photographer

It's been a busy start to the year, much busier than this time last year. This time last year, I couldn’t have handled it. Professionally and personally, I was drained. So drained in fact, that I started 2017 by taking a sort of sabbatical. Owning AND operating a business is hard. And this whole balancing life and work thing is a learning process that is ongoing and ever-changing. In this season of life, I have been lax in my blogging endeavors. I hope to remedy that in the coming weeks, as I’ve got some fun things to say and some cool work to share. In the meantime, I thought I would share a very quick update on where I'm at a year later and how taking a sabbatical has changed my work life.

Throwback Thursday / This Old Building

As I was driving through a town recently, I was struck by this building with no roof. I promptly stopped and parked. As I walked around the premises quietly surveying the remains, I realized that what it lacked in functionality it more than made up for in personality and character. As best I can tell, it was an old automotive store/shop. I'm not sure what happened to the roof, or portions of the actual building. But I can tell you that I felt right at home there.

Throwback Thursday / Go Outside

In lieu of being on the road all week, I'm sharing an image of the Buffalo River Valley from a few years back. I remember this day perfect, as I was alone and hiking through the woods on a cold, cloudy, and rather damp morning. Sometimes, those "less than perfect" conditions are in fact, the most conducive to a thought-provoking, inspiring and altogether, perfect day to be outside. Cheers to the weather in all seasons and to being outside regardless of it.

Happy 2017, I'm on Sabbatical

After incredibly busy Spring, Summer and Fall seasons of work and life, I am starting 2017 by taking a self-imposed "Creative Sabbatical." This simply means that for the first 2 months of the year, I will be accepting work on a limited basis with the intention of using the rest of my time to decompress, recharge, learn some things and rework some aspects of Novo Studio. I will also be taking more time to focus on creating personal photographs. (Translation... more driving, exploring and trespassing). I will be posting a few updates here on the blog and on social media. As for my personal work, you can feel free to follow along on my website, on my Flickr page and on my Instagram page. Cheers to a New Year, see you soon.

Philip Thomas // Novo Studio