21September Theme:
Which creative work in your portfolio are you proudest of? Why?
Lynn Garelick – Attached is my gouache painting of “Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade”.
I was at a low point in my personal life in 1992. I was living in an apartment in Fairfield CT. I set up this Still Life on a stool in my dining room window.
I felt a lot better after painting it. Within a few months, I moved to Greenwich with a new job at a large interior design firm, which was located where Hermes is now. Life goes on and it is good. Thanks be to God!
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Doris Mady – At first thought I would have said my painting, Nature’s Applause, just because I always thought painting the ocean would be hard…it isn’t.
But truth be told: it’s Unconditional Love. At the constant nagging from a friend I painted my dog Kerry, 3 months before he passed away. I had no photos of him because he was afraid of cameras…and since stress might affect epilepsy I had none of the “cute images” parents have of their “children”. I grabbed a shot of him just as he was waking up. This one painting is something I’ll treasure all my life and I’m proud of the fact that I jumped thru my fear to portray him.
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Lee Paine — Of all the things I have created in my long life, including writing a column called “Focus on Photos” for the Greenwich Time/Greenwich Citizen for 27 years, and creating over 100 photographic art works and countless poems, I am most proud of completing my book Extraordinary Revelations to Ordinary People, self-published in 2022, which contains 24 interviews with other people who have had “extraordinary revelations,” defined in the book as, “an experience that comes to you from outside yourself, sears itself into your soul, and generally has a personal message for you.”
Unlike anything else in my life, I can’t take total credit for the book, because the concept to write the book and the title were planted in my head; I was led to the people who gave me interviews, even during COVID, and as I was taking some experimental photos for the book, I became aware that I was totally receiving help from somewhere outside myself, as I watched shards of colored reflections bounced onto a studio wall, transform into heavenly scenes and figures.
My pride is mixed with wonder, as I don’t fully understand the how, why and who of these experiences, but I am grateful that I was given the mission to share the amazing messages in the book, and for the insights and experiences that continue to be granted to me.
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Adrienne Reedy –
Art as Witness
Late spring, a family of geese with two goslings waddled into our lives at the pond. I was immediately captivated, returning each day to see their slow, peaceful progress. After a few days, however, I noticed with a pang of sadness that one gosling was gone. The simple joy I had felt was now tinged with sorrow. I couldn’t shake the image of the lone surviving gosling and its parents. Why was I so drawn to its small, fragile existence? I felt a need to capture its story, not just in my memory, but on canvas and in a poem. My painting conveyed its image, but it was my poem that truly spoke to its fragile beauty and its parallel to life. I submitted it to the National Pen Women’s magazine, and was thrilled receiving the acceptance letter. It was a moment of immense pride. I’d captured more than a bird; I’d given voice to a fleeting, poignant story, a testament to the power of art to express our most tender feelings.
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Lucinda Watson – My favorite poem of the year – as a poet, sometimes we write things, and we have no idea where they come from. The images, the words, even the ideas almost seem plagiarized. I’ve talked to other writers who feel the same way. I wrote this poem after one of my close friends died and I thought it was such a wonderful description of Hugh arriving in heaven. I actually think it’s a brilliant poem. I’m going to try to send it out and have it be published somewhere. I haven’t done that in a long time since I wrote my book, but I’m going to start again.
“Death”
A magician is called to the bedside.
He opens his coat, its lining revealed
shiny like a young minnow.
Snaps it around the waiting soul,
then unfurls it up to the sky.
The murmuration happens.
A round of applause crackles as you lift into the light.
There are black and fragile wings, no bodies,
beating for altitude.
The entire sky shivers with joy.
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Deb Weir — Here is the work of which I am most proud. People see themselves in these stories. (Note: this book is available in Kindle)
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October Theme:
Describe a time when you had to think quickly to respond to a delicate situation.
Do you know how to maintain Facebook and Instagram? We need you. Please reach out to Adrienne Reedy.
If you force yourself to reconstruct your writing from memory, you will likely improve it. – Jordan Peterson