The muted, burnished colors reflected in the mountain pools were so incredibly soothing. They blended together in wavy lines. The trees, the leaves, the water became one, and I wanted to plunge in and cover myself in autumnal splendor. It is in these moments that the real and the imagined join forces and cast a magical energy.
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Shifting Focus: From Work to Art
This week, I found the Alie Ward’s podcast “Why Humans Require Hobbies” on her Ologies website. The podcast featured the writer, Julia Holtz, who wrote The Connection Cure, which centers on what matters to you in treating and preventing illnesses. Julia is a salugenologist – simply meaning she studies what makes us healthy. Her book explains the science behind going into nature, what makes you happy, and making time for hobbies. This topic got my attention because I am gradually, and I mean grad…u…al…ly shifting from school being the center of my life to art being the center of my life.
Daily Dose of Joy
I put down my briefcase, sat carefully down on a small chair, and introduced myself to a table of three-year-old girls. I started my teaching career working with three-year-olds. I remember days of play, imagination, and song so fondly.
Art as Gratitude
I hadn’t thought of art as a vehicle for gratitude, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was exactly that – art is a prayer sent out to all calling for peace, beauty, love, all the colors of the rainbow, the rain coming softly down washing everything clean. This weekend, I looked back at some of the photos I’ve taken and suddenly saw prayers of gratitude embedded in their images.
Welcoming Autumn: Home in the Woods
It's not easy settling back in even though I have had a lot of practice! My mind is a jumble, my home is a mess of summer and school paraphernalia, and there are lists upon lists upon list of things to accomplish. It takes at least the first two weeks of September to feel back home in my rightful place. The sacks of apples and displays of assorted pumpkins at the grocery store helps. Autumn is coming, and I can take a deep breath, find an easy rhythm, and enjoy what is unfolding before me.
Igniting Curiosity: How Skateboarding Sparks Learning
All this skateboarding got me to thinking about how children learn. Increasingly, learning seems to have become more and more passive. Teachers and technology dole out information and kids are expected to take the information and hold on to it, but I’m not sure the kids understand the importance of the information and how to take it farther. And there is so much information, it’s hard to determine what to hold on to, what is true, and what is not important. I’m wondering in my work with children this year, how I can spark that skatepark enthusiasm.
Embracing Hope: My Cousin’s Miracle Recovery Story
In mid-June my dear cousin, Sylvia, had both neck and brain surgery and was in critical condition. Our family prepared for the worst. Some of us kept on praying and leaning of God for support.
Artist at Play in Maine
Art is a little less familiar to me. When I take a photo, I compose in the moment and then it is finished almost instantaneously. I want to see if I can play with photographic images much the way I play with words when I compose poetry. I want to make sure I keep that playful, childlike mindset. I hope this artful adventure will teach me something new about the creative process. As I age, I want the world to stay fresh. I want to keep my curiosity.and youthful perspective.
Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman
Recently, a good friend told me about Nell Painter’s book, Old in Art School. I knew immediately that I had to push it up to first on my summer reading list. I am indulging in Nell’s journey from Princeton history academic to an BFA at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of Visual Arts to an MFA from the prestigious Rhode Island School of design. Much of Nell’s book is familiar because she is a Jersey girl and I also attended Rutgers as both an undergraduate and graduate. The essential questions of what is art and who is an artist repeat as a refrain in this memoir. I took a long slow read, trying my best to experience what Nell had lived.
Summertime Whimsy
It’s summertime. The world goes spinning on, off kilter. Over my decades on this planet, it seems that the world has always spun off kilter. There is good and evil in this world and both push and pull. I believe good will win out in the end. I believe in art, education, nature, and the human spirit. I know these things make life hopeful. And though, there are many things I can be anxious about right now, I choose joy and laughter. Summer is here. I want to face it like I did when I was a young girl, with hope and wild abandon.
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 