When I was in college, I bought myself a sewing machine. A good one with all metal components and smooth as silk. It was a big investment at the time, but well worth it. For years I used it to sew all manner of things, from the textile artwork in my thesis show to the long green curtains in my first home. I thought I’d have it forever until my daughter, now near the age I was when I bought it, asked if she could borrow it.
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Creative People: Ryn Clarke
I first discovered Ryn Clarke’s artwork online during the shutdown. Her surreal photo composites became a much needed counterbalance to the uncertainty of daily life. As the pandemic took hold and spun things we’d taken for granted upside down, Ryn’s work was otherworldly in the opposite direction. Her swirling nature scenes revolved around a calming center, the eye of the emotional hurricane.
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Reimagining Education
Like many of you, I’ve been listening to the public school debates. Long before I became a full-time artist I was a teacher. Education is close to my heart. As I listen to parents and teachers swimming in the stress of remote learning vs. onsite and what it all will look like, I can feel the emotions well up. When I see schools installing what amount to plexiglas cubicles for students, or teachers being encouraged to update their wills, I lose it.
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Good For The Grapes
A friend of mine has a saying when it’s hot as blazes: It’s good for the grapes. He owns a vineyard; grapes are his specialty. He can read them like the pages of a wine-stained book. More importantly, I love the attitude that even when the weather is brutal, something still thrives.
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Bottoms Up
As many of you know, my husband Alan and I live on a farm. We don’t own a TV, much to the dismay of my nieces and nephews. Our attention is absorbed by the world around us – the wildflowers that bloom in brilliant succession, the garden that needs constant tending, the chickens that trade us feed for breakfast.
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Creative People: Camilla Damsbo Brix
Today’s Creative People interview features Camilla Damsbo Brix. She is a watercolor artist of the magical sort, the kind who can transform a few wisps of color into a delicate flower. She lives in the Danish countryside right in the middle of her favorite inspiration: nature.
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