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Mustang Island, Texas (Carol Elliott News Network).

From time-to-time, artists have a need to step out of the limelight and pursue those things in life that provide balance and feed their creativity.  In 2001 I went back to my alma mater and studied painting and drawing with my old art teacher, friend and artist, Carlos.  I discovered that I loved expressing myself with oil paint instead of songs and I painted some very large pieces which are hanging in my home in Nashville.  I also spent a lot of time reading and journaling in the university library.

In 2002, I left Nashville and retreated to our condominium on Mustang Island off the coast of Texas.  I decided I wanted to work at something totally unrelated to my music--a passion and a career that has dominated my life for twenty-five years.  I took a job managing the condominium complex where my husband Buddy and I had purchased a getaway condo a few years earlier.  It was our secret spot where people knew us as the folks from Tennessee and not as the singer/songwriter/entertainers who regularly tour the United States and Europe.  While I worked here my husband made a record with Maia Sharp and Art Garfunkel and continued touring.  I joined him in London for a week last year to see them perform at Royal Albert Hall.

My life here on Mustang Island has been a wonderful experience.  I love living by the ocean.  I have made friends with all sorts of interesting people and have developed skills that are completely foreign to my artistic nature and music business experiences.  However, I have not abandoned my songwriting and singing.  And I never will.  Occasionally I sing a few songs at a local weekend gathering of musicians.  But most of the locals here know me as "Mustang Sally" who wears a tool belt, a bill cap and takes care of 34 condos and weekend guests.

I have resurrected a musical that I have been writing off and on since my college days and hope to have a rough draft ready by the end of this year.  I have written several new songs.  Living so close to the Mexican border has inspired me to study Spanish and to explore that beautiful country.  I am helping a well known naturalist/oceanographer edit his book which is a compilation of his research and experiences here on this island for the last eighteen years.  I also purchased an electric guitar and am experimenting with some new sounds.

One day a week I volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center.  There I feed and care for pelicans with broken wings, abandoned baby owls and raccoons, injured sea turtles, and many other beautiful shore birds who have been wounded or are sick and need a safe haven to heal before they can return to the wild.  This pursuit has added immeasurably to helping me gain a strong sense of center.

I do not know what the remainder of 2004 holds for me, but I will keep you posted about my life in the coming months.  I still dream of returning to Germany and reconnecting with my fans in the not too distant future.

Love to all,

Carol