Studio Tour with Westport Public Library, Westport, CT
I had the honor and pleasure of being interviewed by artist extraordinaire Miggs Burroughs and Exhibition Curator Carole Erger-Fass from my current studio in Atlanta, Georgia as part of their Studio Tours. Covid-19 has kept me from my back-and-forth to Westport, but with Zoom, we were able to conduct this interview. The pandemic was the theme of artwork in progress and a stream drawing we did at the end of the interview. Here is a video link to the interview on Youtube, as well as a link to the Youtube video of the stream drawing imagery with notes (kind of cool what came up as far as ethical issues concerning the pandemic). See below images and notes, also, from the stream drawing. Thank you again, Miggs Burroughs, Carole Erger-Fass and the Westport Public Library!
One feels threatened (jabbing sharp angle at solar) is in a creative position at piano or drawing board etc. Creating while afraid or worried is often the best way to allow ideas to solutions to arrive. Thinking is not necessarily the best approach! Creating is a way of releasing mental stress and letting answers come via intuitive, imaginative and spiritual (3rd eye surprises!) ways. As if “out of the blue”. Being creative through pandemic stress is essential.
In this image, we see a lion (go forth with courage!) and to the left, two important archetypes: the firefighter (rescuer) and cowboy (rough-ready pioneer spirit). We have been in emergency mode but have not, ironically, properly cared for (as a society) our first responders. This forces us to question where we are in our culture as far as our values–how is it we live in a society that does not value its first responders enough to prepare them to prepare us for an emergency? The cowboy is a symbol of venturing into the unknown, willing to do that with real ability to adapt, come what may. A pandemic throws so much into our lives in the way of unknowns, it requires a lot of expansion, but can we do it without destroying others in the process? Notice the entire image of the firefighter and cowboy is encompassed by a heart–we have to decided collectively what our true values are and how to put that into action personally and societally.
