“The capacity to be alone facilitated learning, thinking, innovation, coming to terms with change, and the maintenance of contact with the inner world of the imagination.” – from Solitude A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr
I have been busy in my studio over the past 9 months. As I wrote here back in October, I started working from my daily practice sketchbooks on larger paintings in oils, graphite and charcoal on paper and on panel. I also spent time re-reading my journals, reviewing medical files and constructing a timeline of the journey of Joe’s disease. It felt necessary for me to know, and to really absorb, the trajectory of his sickening.
As I embarked on that exploration, I also pulled out free-writing pages I had done with prompts from Sheila Bender’s excellent writing guide “Writing Personal Essays, Shaping and Sharing Your Life Experience”. I wrote those pages in January 2023 while in the thick of intense caregiving and put them aside when the exercises felt like they had served their cathartic purpose.
In November, with the paintings shaping into a body of work, and a fresh look at the writing I had done, I had this sense that something was happening, something was coalescing, that I had a story to tell. I asked Sheila to visit my studio, and we looked at it all – the writing pages, the paintings, the sketchbooks, the journals, the timeline. She said, “An illustrated essay? Is there such a thing?” I said, “Sounds like a graphic novel?”
Since then, I have researched and read many graphic novels, especially the memoir genre*. I have written. I have edited. I have a first draft. I have painted and painted and mapped paintings to journal entries and journal entries to the draft. But I have also continued my daily practice sketchbooks. Check out my Instagram for regular postings of my sketchbooks and paintings in progress.
I see the art of the daily practice as one of observation, of attention, of release and of the present tense. (The practice is also a motivating way to get myself down to the studio!) My graphic memoir and the studio paintings are a synthesis of lived experience, a punctuation to an incredible chapter of my life, a loving look back.
This is the progress report of my life emerging. I am painting. I am teaching. I joined a writing group, I continue my art group. Dear ones come to visit. I go visit dear ones. Whats App sibling group love abounds. There are pallet fires and coffee dates. Dog walks and art openings. And there is solitude, beautiful solitude – the mother of imagination.
*my two favorites (so far) in the graphic memoir genre: Ephemera by Brianna Loewinsohn; Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
Upcoming classes
Your Illustrated Life: Art Journaling Through Change, April 7, 10am-3pm An introduction into the process of art journaling for resilience and expression.
Your Illustrated Life: Art Journaling Through Grief, Wednesdays, May 1-29, 11-12:30pm. Online. A weekly series supporting personal expression.
Make It Abstract, May 16 & 17, 2-4:30pm. A favorite returns – repeat students welcome!
PNW Abstract, June 29 & 30, 2-5pm. Just added! The March workshop sold out!
Paint From Poems, July 8, 2-5pm. Coming soon to the catalog.
Inspired Abstract Desert Landscapes, Sept 5-12, 2024. Playa at Summer Lake, Oregon. Explore your artistic expression through the lens of the magical “Oregon Outback”. The beautiful Playa setting includes accommodations, 2 group meals, class time and self-directed studio time.
Natural Abstract, March 5-7, 2025, Art League of Hilton Head, SC. Coming soon to the catalog.