Ooof I know it’s bad form to start off a blog post saying, “It’s been awhile!” but I don’t care. It has been awhile. I think I just needed some time off from feeling like I HAD to post something. Some of you have texted or emailed to ask if I’m okay—I haven’t been on social media either—and I appreciate your reaching out. It did make me realize, though, that I do miss my blog and keeping in some sort of touch with the world.
I haven’t been feeling terribly creative lately, especially after the show came down a year ago, and I could chalk it up to covid and the election bizarre-ness but I think those are surface reasons, not what’s underneath. Really, I think it’s that I’m changing, and I’m in that wait-and-see phase. I’m just kinda wondering how long it will last, because it feels like it’s taking forever.
Anyway, here are a few bits and pieces of news from the last year…
… Pippin! …
I sooo want to start with my favorite piece of news: We now own a horse :-) I don’t know quite how this happened. I used to ride when I was a kid, and then on and off again when I could over the years. Last fall I started taking lessons again and knew it was something I didn’t want to give up this time. I knew I wanted it to be a bigger part of my life. The thought of riding more than once a week on a “school horse” crossed my mind and I started poking around online (which came naturally during spring lockdown, right?) Well... a few months later and there was a horse in our lives. He’s a rescue, he’s an Arabian, he is this girl’s pony-dream come true. We named him Pippin. What I love is that John loves him just as much as I do and he has spent a lot of time at the barn with me.
More to come about this whole new adventure, because it was NOT an easy start. In fact, I’ll probably start a different blog just for Pippin’s story. Stay tuned.
… GCAC WRITING GRANT…
I say I’m not being creative but that isn’t entirely true. Earlier this year I received a professional development grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council (thank you, GCAC!!), but with all the covid closings, workshops were being cancelled and I didn’t really want to take a Zoom art class. They graciously allowed me to extend the deadline and work on my writing instead. I am thrilled to be working one-on-one with Janet Flora, the writer I’d taken a workshop with in NYC a couple years ago (read about my day in NYC here). Janet sparked my interest in writing personal essays, and I am plugging along, very grateful to the GCAC for funds to make this possible! I’ve gone through all the usual writing ups and downs, including wondering if I really want to write—why is it so hard to sit down and do it sometimes?—but Janet threw a great Dorothy Parker quote at me which I’ve pushpinned to my wall: “I hate writing; I love having written.” Part of my “homework” is to get my blog going again, because it gets me thinking in words, gets my fingers moving, and gets me paying attention to even some semblance of a deadline. That’s my desk in the photo above. Sadly it is too cold to open the courtyard french doors anymore, but that’s okay, the sunshine fills up my spot in even more in the winter.
… ARTIST IN THE SCHOOLS …
Last fall and winter, until covid hit us in spring, I was a visiting artist at three different schools through TeachArts Ohio grants from the Ohio Arts Council. At Harding High School in Marion I worked with the art, craft, and photo classes on bookbinding projects. Also in Marion at George Washington Elementary, I worked with k-5th graders on basic bookbinding skills and simple book structures. Our final projects were cancelled when schools closed in March, so we put out a call for student artwork and writing in response to the pandemic and I put a Blurb-published book together for the school library to keep as a record. Take a peek HERE if you’d like to see the inside.
Also, through a separate TeachArts Ohio grant from the Ohio Arts Council, I’m still currently a visiting artist, albeit virtually, at the Ohio State School for the Blind. I’m working with students and a group of faculty on researching the history of the school and responding to it in creative ways, while also creating work based on experiences of their own currently-happening history.
Many thanks to the OAC (shout-out to Jarred Small!) and to the faculty and staff of these schools for making my first experience with TeachArts Ohio so rewarding.
Speaking of currently-happening history, it’s election day, and no matter which way it goes, things will be interesting! Stay sane, remember things that make you happy, do good in the world.
More news on the way!