A day during the war in Ukraine. An older woman angrily confronts a Russian soldier. She forces a package of sunflower seeds on him and issues a curse: “Take these seeds and put them in your pocket, so at least sunflowers [Ukrainian national flower] will grow when you all lie down here.” I have read… Continue reading Summoning the Ancient Goddess of War
The Power of Touch
The View In recent years, a wave of studies has documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits that come from touch. This research is suggesting that touch is truly fundamental to human communication, bonding, and health. (Dacher Keltner) Humans are wired to be touched. From birth until the day we die, our need for… Continue reading The Power of Touch
Rag Tag Emmas: The Guardian of the Chakras
Just over a year ago, my friend Casey Weibust and I tossed around ideas about combining dolls and books. That first casual conversation has turned into a new project for me (and an obsession): Rag Tag Emmas. So called since the dolls are made from bits and pieces and (according to the Urban Thesaurus) "Emma"… Continue reading Rag Tag Emmas: The Guardian of the Chakras
Practice #1: The Ocean Creaks
Here is my first response to a writing/illustrating challenge based on an exercise from Ursula Le Guin's book Steering the Craft.
The Real World
Dream: 1: a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep 2: an experience of waking life having the characteristics of a dream (vision, daydream, reverie) 3: something notable for its beauty, excellence, or enjoyable quality 4: a strongly desired goal or purpose; something that fully satisfies a wish. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) … Continue reading The Real World
Emotion and Art
Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them. --Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? (1897)[ I’ve been re-reading Entering Germany 1944-1949 by the… Continue reading Emotion and Art
Siren Songs
Music plays an essential role in my creative process. The texture, rhythms, instrumentation and tone of the pieces I listen to while I’m working help to create the flow that translates into the expression of a story. It’s a tool that can be especially useful when I’m stuck. Recently I’ve been working on a new… Continue reading Siren Songs
Women’s Work
Throughout the history of art, decoration and domestic handicrafts have been regarded as women’s work, and as such, not considered “high” or fine art. Quilting, embroidery, needlework, china painting, and sewing—none of these have been deemed worthy artistic equivalents to the grand mediums of painting and sculpture. The age-old aesthetic hierarchy that privileges certain forms… Continue reading Women’s Work
Yin Yang
"Eight forces sustain creation: Movement and stillness, Solidification and fluidity, Extension and contraction, Unification and division." Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace
Detective Work
Who was Electa Barrett? I’ve been exploring a box of photographs that belong to my husband’s family and that focus on the Gildersleeve family of Gildersleeve CT. One envelope held a treasure trove of about a dozen cartes de visite. Cartes de visite are small (2 1/2 x 4 inch) photographs that were popular during… Continue reading Detective Work