march 21st
The weather here has had some subtle shifts and some not-so-subtle shifts. Daffodils are sprouting, birds are chirping earlier and earlier, and the days have more light. I notice the rain feels warmer, I can feel humidity creeping in, and certain fields I pass are flowering.
Weather is typically seen as a more shallow conversation topic: something we all have in common. That is why I love talking about it! It may seem commonplace but the myriad ways all of our lives are different: in my neighborhood, we all had in rain today. Or we all saw the sun. I like that thought…
What have I been up to this month?
My brother and I had a phone call last night and he asked if I’d been teaching much. It is so hard for me to feel any resonance with the word teacher itself, and not in a self deprecating way, but in a “that’s not how I experience being with the kids” way.
Sure, I am “in charge” and need to guide the kids in activities where I posses more technical knowledge. But if there were a way to measure how much they learned and how much I learned, I’m sure it’d be equal, if not me learning more from them.
Children are wise. Children are people! I love seeing what they come up with.
I teach monthly at a local non-profit that provides art classes for children with a range of disabilities. I also work in a nursery twice a week where I’ve helped create for them a little “gallery wall”. One of the kids told her mom last week, “Mom! I’m going to paint when I grow up like Abby! I’ll be an artist too!”
The goal is never to make them professional artists, or make them like me, or have them make art I like (even though I do like all of it haha). It’s to foster creativity and imagination so that no matter what they end up doing in their lives, they have power in that way. The mental power of imagination, the emotional ability to empathize, and the creativity to organize community and solve problems.
this piece is by one of our non-verbal and sensory seeking students- I have personally learned a lot from him- his strokes are bold and he never second guesses himself. His smile the whole time makes everyone soften.
community show at the studios
I’m part of a studio that held a St. Patrick’s Day show where we opened up our studios, had live music and a performance from a local theater, and had outside art vendors.
There are hard parts about living where I am, and I’m trying to fully articulate and write down for myself why I have stayed for so long (and I’m glad I have- this is not a complaint.) This night was a reminder.
Coming Up
I have a show that will be up at the hospital for three months! It’s been a joy to think of art in a hospital, one of the places I feel is sometimes sterile and forgotten about to people who don’t have to go in. The exhibition before mine was AMAZING when I went to look at the space, by local artist Wanda Stanfill, so it will be a challenge to fill those shoes (and walls).
recent work
I have broken my one painting a month rule for this upcoming show, since I need more pieces to fill up the space.
March Muses
My new massage therapist!!!! Wow. Miracles do happen. One of my goals this year was to take my back pain seriously and within the first session, I knew I would return to see her again. I’ve had doctors, physical therapists, and massage therapists not take my pain seriously and to have someone look it right in the eye is: terrifying, validating, freeing, amazing, vulnerable, painful….it’s everything!
I drew this after our first session, feeling her hands make shapes on my back.
A little friend and I went to the coffee shop to draw together. This time, we would trade our notebooks back and forth to create creatures that were wild and fantastical in the end. This one was one of my favorites.
3. sunny day clouds
anyone still fighting for, believing in, and dreaming for a Free Palestine.
two of my top instagram follows for Palestinian liberation and our role are: