Dreams

A fellow blogger asked me to share some of my art that comes from dreams.  I often have dreams about roaming the microscopic textures of things such as wood grain, lichen, the veins in rocks.  I also often have dreams where the paint is still wet, which leads me to believe I'm actually a part of the painting.  I also have a strange teapot who keeps appearing with silent advice.  And since I was very young just before I get sick I have dreams of descending steep stairs that are too small for my feet.  It doesn't happen every time, but I take it as a warning when the stairs appear since they have never been wrong.  Many years ago I was fortunate enough to experience, climb, and touch the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala.  They were the exact stairs!

Both my art and poetry are sprinkled with my dreams.  I love working through the layers, examining the symbolism, and I use each dream as a guide.  I'm equally interested in the dreams of others as well.  There are a handful of surefire ways that always make me lose track of time.  Talking about dreams with others is one of those things.

My favorite poem I've written is a mishmash of my thrift store dreams, which is a common setting.

Mixed Media

Here are a few dream-inspired art pieces:

Moving Forward

Thanks to The Green Hills Literary Lantern for publishing my poem, Moving Forward.  

The title of the poem and timing of it being published does not escape me.  

There hasn't been a whole of writing going on at the moment.  My current favorite way of expressing myself is through unintelligible grousing and large, erratic movements with art implements and unfortunate paper victims. 

Dear poetry, are you still my friend?  Please check yes or no. 😆

Yes     ▢

No     ▢

art party

Some very exciting news here!

I had my first artist talk at the Natasha Ria Gallery, where some of my artwork is currently displayed.  Some very special people came, and it was a lot of fun!  I will definitely be on the lookout for more artist talks, because I always have a millions questions like how do they do that?  What's their process?  And on and on.

Here I am with the amazing Natasha, who has been so incredibly helpful with my art journey.  She is one of the warmest and easiest people to talk to.  And she's both an artist and poet too!

I was completely blown away when I looked up and saw one of my favorite people walk in.  Ann has been one of my writing friends for over ten years.  She is the poet I talk about who finds a haiku moment in every day.  She is also 94 years old and one of those people who scoops up all the best stories and shares them in beautiful ways.  We met through a poetry workshop I facilitated at the library over ten years ago, and along with a handful of special people, we have been sharing poetry ever since.  If that isn't one of those library stories about community building that tugs at your heart, then I don't know what will.  Ann is also an artist!  She painted many watercolors and has an eye for beauty.  Just look at her blouse, which is like a watercolor painting come to life!

In the picture below, Ann's daughter, Carol is to the left.  She's a passionate art and library supporter.  And on the right is Octavia, one of my favorite people I work with.  My world truly revolves around the library, and I've been so fortunate to meet some of my favorite people through the library.  With so much up in the air now with where I'll be working in the next six months, I recognize how good the library has been for me for the last fourteen years.  Even as I'm beginning to explore this new world of displaying art, the library is present in everything and everyone in my life.

Robert has been so jazzed about all my art endeavors.  He sometimes has even more enthusiasm than me!  He has been asking the best questions, helping me with both practical and artistic questions, and providing so much support.  I am excited he's on this journey with me.  His face here says everything I just said and then some.  

Lastly, I just wanted to let you all know I was selected as one of the emerging artists for the Lawrence Art in the Park in September!  It will be my first time participating in an artist fair, and I am so incredibly excited and nervous!  I hope to see lots of familiar faces and soak up all the inspiration and beauty.  I was so delighted to discover Lawrence Art in the Park's emerging artist program, because it will be a good way to dip my toes into the art fair community, learn how to set up a booth, and get those coveted booth photos I need to apply for future fairs if I decide to do so.  I also have the joy of sharing my booth with another emerging artist, which will also be a relief.  I'm a huge fan of the buddy system, especially when I'm new to something.  I hope this person is looking forward to an enthusiastic art buddy for two days!  

poetry

Last week I had a really nice rejection email.  An editor from Free State Review sent some thoughtful notes about three of my poems, and I was so impressed that he took the time to do so.

Speaking of acceptances, thanks to Across the Margin for publishing three very different poems of mine, The Beast, The Variety Store, and Water Aerobics.  When I'm reading journals and come across a poet who has multiple works published at once, I rarely try to make connections.  There are a couple exceptions of course.  Sometimes the connections are obvious and beautifully done.  Other times I find myself wondering how poems that are so different can come from one person.  

I have been working on The Variety Store for several years, compiling real moments and dreams in the hopes that one day the poem would finally reveal itself.  I'm still wondering how it is that I managed to drive to the lake on one of the rare days the variety store was actually open.  It's an experience I will never forget.   

Water Aerobics took almost as much time, but really it was just years of polishing and adjusting.  I was always an outsider during water aerobics - really just like anything else I'm involved with - but I felt so honored to be a quiet observer during this weekly ritual.  I think water aerobics was one of the things that helped me embrace the role and importance of being an observer. 

I wrote The Beast quickly, shared it with my poetry friends who offered helpful critiques, and submitted it.  Unlike the other two poems, it was an easy poem to write, a recurring dream I find myself in just as much as the rooms in my house.  I have discovered if I write about a recurring dream, the act of writing changes its landscape.  I wonder if this happens to others as well.  

Three different poems that mean a lot to me all sharing one page.  I am very thankful.

Womb Dreams

Thanks to The South Shore Review for publishing my poem, Womb Dreams!

My first Canadian journal, and it's such an honor.

Mixed Media

Thanks to Sublunary Review for publishing my poem, Mixed Media.  It's no secret this is my favorite poem.  I'm so glad it found a home with Sublunary Review.

I have a lot of dreams that take place in thrift stores, garage sales, and junkyards.  My childhood was a patchwork of these places, so it makes perfect sense I spend a lot of my sleep time wandering aisles and rows of bizarre, sometimes familiar treasures, the lullaby of mildew, rust, and damp creating an ache of longing.  My family was always happiest when we were searching for treasure.  Some times that is still the case.  

Often, when I'm dreaming I browse the thrift stores and garage sales alone, but I know my family is close by thanks to the abundance of childhood memories, knick-knacks, sounds, smells, and feelings that fill the dream.  These dreams always bring me so much comfort, even when they are only there as messengers.

A little bit of everything

I have been very busy with SO many things - preparing for fall programming at the library, starting my third semester of my MLS degree, a couple of all-consuming art projects, soaking up all the hot, evil weather I can before it turns, and working on compiling a chapbook.  

Here are a few special moments I don't want to let slip through the cracks.

First, I am behind on my thank-yous!  Thank you to Loch Raven Review for publishing Just as I Begin, Willows Wept Review for publishing Panorama, and The Phoenix for publishing Grandma's Kitchen and My Apology.  I have mentioned two of these journals prior to this post, but since then I have received physical copies, which is always so exciting.  This issue of Loch Raven Review will take a year for me to read it, but I am excited to dive in.  You can find it here.  You can find the issue of Willows Wept Review I am in here.

One last thing about this picture.  I look so much like my brother, Scott in this picture!  How cool is that?  Does anyone else get super excited when you see people you love the most in pictures of yourself?  It never gets old.

I told Robert I wanted to make a caterpillar that helped guide kids and their caregivers through storytime.  The face segment is the hello song and the last blue segment is the goodbye song (I've been calling it the bye-bye butt, but not in front of kids!).  In-between the hello and goodbye segments are three options and multiple copies of each - song, activity or book.  Not shown in this picture is the arrow, which will show patrons where we are at during storytimes.   Because storytimes are a little different each time, I'll be able to change up my caterpillar for each storytime.  Originally, my plan was to make laminated segments.  

Robert and our friend, Josh took it to a whole new level and made the segments on a 3D printer!

Tomorrow I give my first ever outreach storytime at a nearby day school.  I am both excited and terrified.  I have no idea what the space looks like and only a vague idea of how many sessions and the different age groups.  It will be a lesson in going with the flow for me!  I packed my traveling storytime bag (and my caterpillar just in case there's a whiteboard big enough).  It will be the first storytime of the season.  My library starts storytimes back up again next week, so I've been thinking about this outreach storytime like a really crazy practice run.

I have been meeting with the same poetry friends for almost ten years now!  I just realized this the last time we met, which is now virtually, so I captured a picture of us.  Four out of the seven of us who meet have been meeting for almost ten years, and one of our original four is in her nineties and writes exceptional poetry.  We transitioned to meeting virtually during the pandemic and have stayed virtual because three people in our group do not live in Kansas City!  Though my life can be crazy busy sometimes, I always look forward to sitting down and talking poetry with this special group of friends.

Margo has been sleeping with her tongue out recently.  It is the cutest thing.

Robert and I recently tried out Swimply and rented someone's pool who allowed dogs.  Margo and Josie mostly enjoyed Robert carrying them around on the raft.

A few more pictures of the girls in all their cuteness.

Margo doesn't even need to sleep in our bed to steal all the covers.  

I love coming up the stairs and seeing this.  It never gets old.  Her lovely face hanging over the steps.

poem palooza

Thanks to Poetry Super Highway for publishing three of my poems: Cyclops, Lunch Break, and Sunday Drive.  These poems are definitely on the lighter end of the spectrum of my poetry.  Two were written while driving!  Poems are everywhere!

If you haven't had the opportunity, please take some time to explore Poetry Super Highway.  It is bursting with treasure.

Gossip & Trash Receptacle at Waldo Library

Thanks to Neologism Poetry Journal for publishing my poem, Gossip, which I wrote while hiking at Clinton Lake - one of my favorite nearby hiking places.

And thanks to The Lake for publishing my poem, Trash Receptacle at Waldo Library, quite possibly my grossest and most profound poem to date.

Uncle Ray

Thank you to The Phoenix Soul for publishing my poem, Uncle Ray.  

What a tough poem to write.  I've been writing it most of my life.  My Uncle Ray passed away when I was only six, but my few memories are only good memories, and my family did a pretty darn good job coloring in those happy lines with their own happy memories.  I didn't know him well, but I think of him often.  He made one poor decision that eventually cost him his life.  Though my family shared the happy memories, I grew up in the aftermath of that decision and its effect on my family.  

We're all connected in so many different ways.  Grief is only one of those ways.

Panorama

Thanks to Willows Wept Review for publishing my poem, Panorama in their issue 28 spring 2023 issue!!

Cicadas

Thanks to Rue Scribe for publishing my poem, Cicadas.  I write and read a lot of small poems, so this small corner of the web is a special place to get lost for a little while.

Just as I Begin

Thanks to The Loch Raven Review for publishing my poem, Just as I Begin.  This is my second poem I've written about treadmills that has been published, so I am now wondering about the beauty and wonder of treadmills.  Also, how many treadmill poems are out there? 

Surprised

Thanks to Pennsylvania English for publishing my poem, Surprised.

Look at that cover!

Lisel

 Thanks to Evening Street Press for publishing my poem, Lisel.

What a lovely cover to see on a cold, winter day!

pancakes

 Thanks to Slab for publishing my ridiculously long library poem, pancakes. 

It's a library love story so there is much to get excited about.  Now excuse me while I go tuck into my copy!

Kicking Clouds

Thanks to Remington for publishing my poem, Kicking Clouds in their five-year anniversary issue!

This poem was previously published in their Winter 2022 issue.

I'm loving this cover!

a few poems and publications

A few publications to share:

Thanks to Cider Review Press for publishing my poem, Grandma's House, a poem that still kicks me in the pants when I read it.  

Thanks to Cerasus Magazine for publishing my poems, Sketching the Void and Freedom from Toxic Relationships in their beautiful journal.  You can purchase it here.  Sketching the Void is one of my favorite poems.  It's a peek into my creative process, which is a spoiler alert, but a small one.  Freedom from Toxic Relationships is a library poem (surprise, surprise).  Getting it published is a nice reminder to keep jotting down all the extraordinary moments I witness and am a part of at the library.

Thanks to The Rail for publishing my poems, The Basement, The Drummer, and The EXIT Sign.  I am particularly excited about The Basement, which is a poem about my grandparent's basement where two of my brothers and I spent countless hours playing.

A lot of love and time went into these poems, and it means so much to me to share them with others.

A Gift

Thanks to The Phoenix Soul for publishing my poem, A Gift.  It's a gift I experience at least once a week during my walks with the dogs and Robert.

When it rains...

Thanks to Dash for publishing my poems, Sunshine (a poem about my mom) and She Pollinated the Plants with Her Soul (a poem about my grandma).  

I think this is the first time poems about two different family members have been published in the same journal. It's definitely a special issue for me.  And it's filled with beauty.  I'm still absorbing all the beautiful writing.

A thank you to Apricity who first published my poem, The Death and Life of a Pigeon online and then sent a very nice email about publishing it in their physical journal.  The journal is so pretty and glossy.  I haven't been able to pick a favorite piece of art.  

And thanks to El Portal for publishing Tennis in the Bubble.  I have been enjoying taking my time with this journal.