What I love about living in southern Indiana is that I truly enjoy every season. Growing up in the American South, I was led to believe that cold and snow is the worst thing that can happen to you. Either you’re built to endure the strangling humidity of the South, or you view it as the ample tradeoff to be spared a life that contains snow. Yes, there are some miserable winter days (like today), but I have learned to direct my joys into other things that are best appreciated in winter — hearty food, fires, small cozy darkrooms. And I’m learning to work with the little bits of plant life that can be found even in the winter, to continue the artmaking that focuses on being present in a specific geography
This winter has especially been a time of planning and waiting for seeds to sprout. I can see some of those as future spring workshops, which I have detailed in my recent newsletter. February also marked the beginnings of construction on my darkroom facility, which I have been writing about since last fall on the Experimental Photo Kitchen blog. But it also marks a milestone that I have been waiting for since I moved here — finally becoming an artist and art educator, full-time. Despite the quiet introspection that is winter, I think I am establishing some good habits to carry me forward with this, which I hope will only bloom with the longer and warmer days ahead.
If you’d like to join me for a workshop this spring, you can do so online or in person at:
Maine Media Workshops
Penumbra Foundation
The Columbus Area Arts Council
Second Story Studio
The Experimental Photo Kitchen
I also have a solo show this fall that I hope to share more about soon. This will be all new works created on my land here. After two years of delays, it is finally time to dig in deep.