Sometimes my to-do list is so long, it makes me incredibly anxious. Even worse than the long to-do lists is the mess at my desk. Since November, even before I had a brain aneurysm, my desk has been covered with growing piles of paper: magazines, memorabilia, bills, receipts, cards, and random sheets of information. It corresponds to the … read more Suddenly simpler
Category: Improvisation
The Adventure Girl Cookbook: Improvising a Life. Recipes, ideas and stories about creativity, mindfulness and improvisation as a major ingredient in art, food, work, life
The tugboat and the snowboarder
It’s just a messy pile of color – seven pieces of construction paper that I drew at random this morning and tossed on the board. What I saw in the pile was pleasant because of the colors. But no one would say it had beauty. I played. The triangles suggested mountains. First I did “A Stoplight … read more The tugboat and the snowboarder
Art therapy
A morning of colored glass. The gleaming pieces caught the sun and the glint of snow through the window. I wanted to handle them all. I got out all the glass fragments that I’d cut this week, and spread them out. And played. I made a dozen small pieces, just a few inches across, and experimented … read more Art therapy
Notes to self
Every once in awhile, you get around to cleaning out files, folders, and even really littered spots like the Notes app on your iPhone. Warning: If you don’t do this very often, you will find many notes that have lost all meaning. For example: What the hell is a “shark connector”? Do I have one … read more Notes to self
A new habit
Usually new habits are hard to adopt. But I’ve changed a lifelong habit in one day. It happened because I’ve had shoulder pain from strains, off and on, for years. But lately it’s been bad, bad, bad. An MRI revealed a tear, and yesterday I learned from an orthopedic specialist that I have a frozen … read more A new habit
In search of perfection
[I drafted this post the day I had my brain aneurysm.] As I read the book Edward Hopper by Lloyd Goodrich, I was arrested by this sentence, The result, he said, was never quite what he had in his mind. This gave me a great sense of relief – that even Hopper, whose work is in the … read more In search of perfection
Workouts on paper
The state of my brain has begun to come out in my construction paper workouts. One that partially expresses the feeling of having been attacked: Trying to regain my sense of equilibrium: From yesterday, one that gets at the resistance from my brain to my own commands: Here’s me, with my ever-shifting levels of energy: And … read more Workouts on paper
The divided self
There is a split in my mind, in my love of life. It makes me crazy. Painting, photography, writing essays, singing … these make me feel happy and free when I’m immersed in them. But always the argument from the other side of the brain. That’s not enough. It’s not practical. You can’t make a living … read more The divided self
Coloring, at least
Around this time of year, I usually take a break of a week or so and do nothing but art. I call it the “Art Sprawl.” This immersion usually produces some nice drawings, progress on art projects and ideas for paintings. It’s also a time to focus on a particular technique. But I can’t do … read more Coloring, at least
Slow dance
Moving slow as molasses. Treading, flapping. The water holds me down, holds me back, and my muscles all feel it. I’m in the pool. It feels so good. The water is warm, the sunlight is streaming through the walls of windows. Outside, the trees are moving easily, and the green stretches down to the lake, … read more Slow dance