The Portrait of and Artist as a Young Woman
I have some amazingly talented friends. Among them is my friend Bubsy who painted this:
Yes. That is a 23 year-old Mama. It was my first year in Baltimore. I was restless and filled with the angst that a 23 year-old has when they want to do great things and have no idea as to how to do them.
I had went to art school already. I had lived (briefly) in Santa Fe. I had moved so many times looking for “it” that finally I threw a virtual dart at a map and had wound up in Baltimore. (If I had not thrown the virtual dart and made that decision I would have ended up in Oakland by way of the job offer I got the very next day.)
I had made up my mind. The first AmeriCorps program that accepted me would get me. By God I am grateful that it was Baltimore.
I found some direction and found my network. I adopted Baltimore as my home. I switched my alliances to the local sports teams (much to the chagrin of my dad and family). I learned to pick a blue crab.
I was still trying to find my way artistically. I can draw. I am not a great painter, but I do get color. Color is my strong suit. I can weld and sculpt from almost any material I find… but it was not coming together. I hung out with my artist friends. I lived in Gertrude Stein’s old house with an activist, a filmmaker, and a dancer (all women.. veddy cool.) We all struggled in that way the the 20 something year-olds do. We all were trying to find “it”. The elusive soul-filling medium that would make us great.
I Was a barista. I met my D. I fell in love, grew up a little, traveled more extensively, and got married. I worked as a special educator. All the while keeping my eye out for that thing.
I had my cowboy. The nature of what artist materials I could have in my home changed dramatically. The sewing machine, pins, paints, etc. were replaced by big primary plastic exer-saucers and play yards. I needed the portable project.
I learned to knit for the second time with my girl G. She has been a constant source of creativity and friendship for 10 years. I kept knitting. I learned about “good yarn” vs. Red Heart. I kept knitting. I knit my first socks and was hooked. I wanted to know everything about fiber. My soul was filling with creative juices. I felt that I found “it”.
I taught myself to dye yarn and found myself in this place. The place of being an indie artist that produces little watercolors for the feet. Strange that dye would become my medium.
I am in this great place because of all of you. I have an actual studio space to work in because of you. I feel that my actual and virtual “village” is such an amazing network of creative human beings. Human in the best sense of being human. We care. We share our joys and our sorrows. We support one another and go from being “imaginary” friends to real friends via the power of the internet and the gatherings at the fiber festivals.
I thought it would be fitting for my final post in 2006 to be one of gratitude. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there. I would never have actualized my dreams as an artist without each and every one of you. Thank you.
Here’s to hoping that peace finds us all in 2007. Health and happiness to us all.
Namaste’.
