in the news
Jan Lee of The Oxford Times wrote a lovely article about my current exhibition at the library in Bampton. She described me as "a perceptive artist" and my work "thought-provoking." I'm honoured!
in the studio
I've set up a temporary studio in the gallery at Bampton library so I can do a bit of a work whilst sitting gallery hours. Here's a snapshot of my workspace - for the last several days I've been hand-painting grenades. They're really cute and a lot of fun.
In my limited spare time, I've been reading when I can. This usually means I have to read whilst eating my breakfast or dinner and when time is of the essence, I tend to return to The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume Two. It's a huge book full of excerpts from novels, short stories, and poems. During one of my breakfast reads, I stumbled upon the Creek Indian poet Joy Harjo. I was gripped by the first stanza from her poem The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window. Full of rich description and emotion, I was immediately compelled to create a sketch for what will become a collage and found object filled assemblage. I look forward to getting back into my normal studio so I can get started.
I couldn't possibly sign off without sharing an excerpt of this poem with you. Enjoy!
She is the woman hanging from the 13rd floor
I couldn't possibly sign off without sharing an excerpt of this poem with you. Enjoy!
She is the woman hanging from the 13rd floor
window. Her hands are pressed white against the
concrete moulding of the tenement building. She
hangs from the 13th floor window in east Chicago,
with a swirl of birds over her head. They could
be a halo, or a storm of glass waiting to crush her.
She thinks she will be set free.
...
And the woman hanging from the 13th floor window
hears other voices. Some of them scream out from below
for her to jump, they would push her over. Others cry softly
from the sidewalks, pull their children up like flowers and gather
them into their arms. They would help her, like themselves.
But she is the woman hanging from the 13th floor window,
and she knows she is hanging by her own fingers, her
own skin, her own thread of indecision.
...
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