getting prompted

After a couple of days of holiday merry-making (eating, drinking & lounging around), my brain is feeling a bit sleepy, so I'll continue using the previously-mentioned 'blog prompts' to churn out a new post.  Rest assured 2012 will see the return of new insights care of once-again-functional synapses and cognitive ability!  Hope everyone is enjoying reminiscing about 2011 & getting ready for a new year.

on the tracks, manitoba - mrl 2010

A Few Favorite Quotes:


The real challenge is not to survive.  Hell, anyone can do that.  It's to survive as yourself, undiminished.
- Elia Kazan

You are not dead yet,
it's not too late 
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life that reveals itself
quietly there.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Creative work needs the whole sky to fly in,
and no eye watching it 
until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to
- Mary Oliver

...You step delicately into the wild world
and your real prize 
will be the frantic search.
Want everything.
If you break
break going out not in.
- Michael Ondaatje

...If you could only stop 
shimmering for just one moment,
you would see your own reflection
mirrored in the stars:
glittering serenely,
only occasionally exploding
while waiting for that promised dawn.
- Karen Hayes

self-portrait

I recently read a blog (I can't remember the name of it unfortunately) where the author had posted suggestions for 'prompts,' to help bloggers get started on new posts.  I thought her list was really helpful, so I'm going to give it a go following it.  She suggests daily posts, which I think excessive, but maybe I can get into a weekly swing, we'll see :)

The first thing on the list is a self-portrait, so here goes:


10 random things about me
1.  I think too much.  Sometimes my brain feels it's overheating, the way my cheap cellphone does after a long call.
2.  I love music.  I really love it, sometimes so much it's overwhelming.  I can't imagine life without it.

[An aside:  this past summer, a guy named Kris Ellestad played a show in Picton, where I was staying.  I didn't go to the show because I was tired or whatever, and I guess hardly anyone went and he talked between songs about what a rough tour he'd been having & how he was a bit down about it.  So then I heard his album afterward and have ever since regretted not going.  Please give him a listen.]


3.  I am very particular.  That's a nice way of saying I am stubborn :)
4.  I meditate every day.  I'm also a certified Yoga & Meditation Instructor.
5.  I have a great sense of humour. 
6.  I have a ridiculous amount of dietary restrictions due to a very sensitive tummy.
7.  I love to run.  I forget that I love it sometimes, but when I get going, I'm happy as a clam.
8.  I'm afraid of heights, even after taking a trapeze/aerial silks course to try & overcome it.
9.  I'm half Italian.  And yes, I speak it.
10.I'm really good at keeping in touch.  Write me a letter and you can bet I'll write you one back.

me in my studio, just now, on my fuzzy webcam

leaps & bounds

untitled (paris - ml 2011

Well it's been a busy & eventful couple of weeks!   Many good things happening, and I couldn't be more thankful.  I guess I'll start with my biggest news:  I got engaged!  It's something my partner (now fiancé!) and I have talked about for a while, but now it's official and we're really excited.

In career news, I had grant funding approved for the L.E.A.P. program, which provides funding to Seniors organizations to bring in artists to teach workshops or classes.  I'll be doing 8 weeks of Felting with them starting in January!   I also had a really great studio visit from someone who happened to see my work online & had contacted me to come see it in person, which resulted in some great conversation about art and a sale!  I now have a few pieces at Details Past & Present Art Gallery in Charlottetown - my first commercial gallery - so that's exciting too.  And I've been invited to participate in a printmaking show in the new year at Gallery 78 in Fredericton!  Whew!  Busy times!

shakespeare & co. - ml 2011

I think that, even with all that good news, the thing I really feel satisfied about, is that I, just now, after 2.5 months, have finally finished editing my photos from my trip to Paris!  Perseverance rules!
Here are a few of my faves:

carousel at Parc La Villette - ml 2011

omnimax theatre at Parc La Villette - ml 2011

marché aux puces Saint-Ouen - ml 2011

the paris catacombes - ml 2011

books for sale - ml 2011

creatures at Saint-Ouen - ml 2011

montmartre - ml 2011

rest - ml 2011

another door opens - ml 2011

montmartre - ml 2011

rodin's The Kiss - ml 2011

 

 

 

procrastination is an art form unto itself

pei farm day - ml 2009

If a gal's not careful she could find herself waking up with the best intentions to get some productive work done in her studio, make herself coffee, and then head to her computer to "catch up on some email real quick," only to then find that it is lunchtime already.  It's hard though, because now that we have access to everything-in-the-world-all-the-time, it is hard for someone with an innate burning curiosity to turn away from all that. Or is that just something I tell myself to justify procrastinating?

This morning I found myself getting sucked in/riveted by a few of the blogs I have bookmarked, most of which I fully intended to follow when I found them, and then the list slowly grew to several dozen...here a few of the ones that are distracting me today:

http://www.unruly.ca/
http://www.nowness.com/
http://arthound.net
http://thecreepycatacomb.blogspot.com/
http://www.instructables.com/

Anyhow, aside from all the web-diversion, I'm also torn between working on editing the hundreds of photos which have piled up on my desktop in folders marked "to edit," puttering away on a new painting, working on some soft sculpture, watching the new episode of Pan Am and getting outside for some exercise.  Hmm...how to choose...

In other, more productive news, I just returned from a week in Halifax for a workshop on Natural Dye techniques with India Flint at the NSCAD Port Campus.  My commute was one of the best parts:  I stayed in Dartmouth with a friend and biked each morning to the ferry, took the ferry across to Halifax with the sunrise over the city, and then biked along the waterfront to the campus.  Delightful.  The workshop was neat too - did you know you could make dye from maple leaves?  Well it's true!  Nature is amazing.  I think I just made up my mind - outside!  - and hopefully that will motivate me for all the rest :)

bundles in goldenrod dyebath - ml 2011

magical sea sculpture - ml 2011

bundles with onion skins and scallop shells - ml 2011

point pleasant park, soaking our cloth - ml 2011

bundles with iron and windfall leaves - ml 2011

vocabulary

graffiti, charlottetown - ml 2011

For a small town, there is an awful lot that goes on in Charlottetown.  A friend of mine had a couchsurfer staying with her last night, and in the space of just a few hours we all went to Pecha-Kucha style talks at the library about sustainability, and then had mad group art-making at the bi-monthly City Nights event.  The theme of the night was 'meat,' so several of us collaborated on a rather hilarious cardboard slaughterhouse, complete with blood splatters, a pasture and miniature cows.  Hopefully the resolve of the vegetarians in the group was only strengthened by the experience :)  
You can watch a short video from a previous City Nights here. 

celebrate - ml 2011

This past spring I decide to venture into the world of video, naively thinking "oh, this will be fun and relatively easy!"  Since then I've been engaged in a mighty stand-off with video-editing software, and we had reached a stalemate until a gifted filmmaker friend graciously took the time to show me the many, many ropes of Final Cut Pro. 


The experience of struggling through a new medium had me thinking a lot about vocabulary.  It seemed to be the main reason I was having trouble - because I didn't understand the terms.  Perhaps that is the essence of understanding a new concept/language/process - building a vocabulary.  For instance, when the categories/terms of body, mind, and spirit were first used, it wasn't that the actual experience was new, it was that now there was vocabulary to help us understand it.  And that new vocabulary allowed for abundant growth and change to happen in human consciousness.  I wonder if, with all the rising tides, both literal and metaphorical, that we're faced with right now, if maybe what we really need is a new way of understanding what is happening; a new vocabulary.  Just a thought...


"There is no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening. "  - Marshall McLuhan

being at home in a storm

seating at Saint-Germain-des-Prés - monica lacey 2011

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon lately when I meet new people:  we introduce ourselves, exchange a bit of small talk, and then when we come to the what-do-you-do-in-life question and I say I'm an artist, the response is, "really?  Like a working artist?  You do that as a job?"  This response is usually accompanied by a facial expression that is a mix of wonder and disbelief, as though I've just announced I am actually a unicorn.  Sometimes I wish that I had begun my professional career as an artist earlier in life, mainly so that I didn't feel such urgent pressure to 'get somewhere,' now that I'm in my thirties.  Mainly though, I'm thankful for the decade or so that I spent doing other jobs that didn't really mean anything to me, because it gives me perspective, and helps me to be empathetic when these people I meet follow their incredulity with, "I always dreamed of being an artist!" or, "I went to art school years ago, but I didn't pursue it."  It also makes me incredibly thankful for the people I met along the way who encouraged me and inspired me to dig deep and find the courage to commit to this path. 

It hasn't been easy to work lately, as I've just moved into a new apartment with my partner Devon, but I did manage to get a submission sent to Papirmasse, and I was honoured to have two of my photos accepted!  Papirmasse is a really neat subscription-based art-in-the-mail operation where you get art and writing sent to you each month.  You can see my issue here, and I did an interview with them as well.  I also have a mixed-media piece in the Dark Arts themed show (up until November) at GGGallery in Charlottetown.   

sunflowers, montparnasse - monica lacey 2011

As I write this, Hurricane Ophelia is doing her act outside my window, all dramatic gestures of flung branches and sideways rain.  The storm has me feeling both agitated and thoughtful so I'm listening to the Lost in Thought playlist on Stereomood.  Although we returned to PEI in June, it only feels just now like we've fully arrived, now that we have a home of our own, where we can stay as long as we like.  I'm looking forward to getting my studio set up and to get cracking on the extra-large canvas I just ordered.  Oh but it's good to be home.

community can save your life

So, without getting into too much detail, let's just say I had a rough week.  A few things that I was really hoping would work out did not, in fact, work out, and I was feeling kind of bummed.  Kicking the dirt a bit, as it were.  Speaking as I am presently, from the other side of that particularly murky river, I have to say:  If you are feeling down, and therefore feeling like retreating further and further into your cave, don't do it!  Get out of your house and engage in a community activity!  I assure you that it is the right thing to do, if you believe that the 'right' direction is toward the light.  I believe that it is. 

The event I went out and participated in tonight was the PoeARTry Playoffs at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown.  The event was put on by the Art Gallery and the PEI Writer's Guild (who also have a great series of events - the Pen & Inkling Festival, Sept. 27-Oct.2.  The event was also part of a really wonderful alternative student orientation called Community Roots, which, hopefully will be a part of the fall fabric from now on here in PEI. 

Anyhow, the night was pretty darn great:  there were 4 teams, each with a team captain from UPEI,  an artist, a poet, and then two other team members chosen from the audience.  There were 4 rounds of stunts/challenges we had to perform, and then a panel of 2 judges who gave us a score.  We wrote haikus, created clay sculptures, and responded to exhibits with wu-tang style raps.  And it may be partly the adrenaline talking here since my team won (go Team A!), but boy did this event ever lift my spirits. 

I think that by nature we tend to retreat when we don't feel our best, but tonight was a great reminder that we're all in this together, we really are, and we need to support and uplift each other; to share our experiences; to be reminded that there is nothing we can feel that another human being somewhere has not also felt.  A sense of a larger community is long what the arts have been about, and it was so exciting to see that in action tonight.  All problems solved.  :)

sandbanks - monica lacey 2011

keep your windows up on the highway

While on the trip to Paris (post), my sister celebrated her 30th birthday.  For the occasion we rented a Renault Magane convertible, and drove north of the city to Senlis, a lovely medieval town where we had lunch.  It was my second time in a convertible, and I learned a valuable lesson about maintaining comfort:  keep the top down and your windows up!  Sage advice, I assure you.  We then continued on to Chantilly, the horse capital of France (and yes, also the birthplace of the famous lace), and home to the Musée vivant du cheval (living museum of the horse), where we got to see a variety of breeds in the grand stables of the Château de Chantilly.  We took riding lessons and had horses growing up, so this was a real treat, and a surprise for my sister, who loves horses and really loves a good Château.  Here are some pictures:

the streets of Senlis - ml 2011

Senlis - ml 2011

everything in France is decorative -this is some sort of window bolt - ml 2011

the token donkey at the Musée vivant du cheval - ml 2011

mini horse in need of a haircut - ml 2011

the saddle/tack/coach room at the Musée - ml 2011

an antique coach - ml 2011

one of the horses out for his exercise in the courtyard - ml 2011

in the jardins of the Château de Chantilly - ml 2011

the Château de Chantilly - ml 2011

the fountains in the front yard, no big deal - ml 2011

the pet swans - ml 2011

climbing the Eiffel Tower is more satisfying than taking the elevator

So this will sound a bit surreal, but last fall, after dedicating considerable time to entering travel contests on the Internet, I won a trip for 4 to Paris for 1 week.  True story.  I'm just returning from that trip.  I took my partner, and my sister (who had her 30th birthday while we were there!) and my mother.  Before you get jealous, let me just tell you that when you win a 'free' trip, it's not really 100% free.  We had to drive to Montréal to catch our flight, and pay the taxes on the flight, which amounted to not much less than a plane ticket would've been.  But anyway, it was, indeed, a prize, so that was neat.  Even neater when you say Grand Prize.  :)


Now, if you're not into other countries or traveling for some reason, this post will likely be boring for you as I'm about to give you my brief(ish) thin-slice travel guide of La Ville-Lumière.  I was only there for a week, so my apologies to anyone who disagrees with any of the following - it speaks to my own experience.  I shot about 24 GB of photos, so I've not done any editing yet because it is overwhelming, so my apologies as well for the lack of images in this post.  The next one will be nothing but.  Promise.


First of all, learn a little French before you go, as a courtesy.  It'll exercise your brain and enable you to chat with some of the very nice local folks.  French Immersion and a few times living in Montréal  prepared me enough that I was excited to practice speaking another language and prior to leaving subjected a few of my friends to some Franglais while I got my bilingual motor started.  :)


Paris is a very expensive city, and the most visited city in the world - you can easily spend a fortune there, so if you're on a budget, here is some advice:


Find a nice boulangerie in your neighborhood and get your food there.  You can get cheap beer or wine at any little market and you will save a bundle grabbing a nice quiche or croque monsieur (really good grilled cheese with ham) and having a picnic in the park.  Have a nice dinner out once or twice, but be prepared to spend more than you'd expected. 


Also, if the weather is nice, and you're into active transportation, get a 1 week pass for Vélib, which has stations with rental bikes literally every few blocks.  A half-hour is free so if you keep docking your bike & getting a new one, it can be dirt cheap.  The bike paths are plentiful and so are your fellow cyclists.  A 5-day pass for the Metro is also very afforable, about 30 Euro, and the subway system is one of the most user-friendly I've been on.

A couple of warnings:  if you're someone who needs really excellent customer service everywhere you go, this is not the city for you.  They get a ridiculous amount of tourists, which may or may not be the reason for the unparalleled rudeness you will encounter in shops, restaurants, and attractions regardless of the level of your spoken French.  The other thing is that the bathrooms are tiny - in public places especially.  There are generally no hooks either, so ladies, leave that giant purse at your table with your friend because I guarantee you there is not room for both you and it in the bathroom.

If there is one thing I love, it's a good park.  Paris has these in spades.  My favorites:

Parc La Villette -  this is an amazing place in the 19th arrondissement.  It is full of wacky modern sculpture, canals, trails, and is home to the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie and the Cité de la Musique as well several outdoor festivals including a film festival and the Grand Ramadan festival du monde Arabe et du Maghreb which we happily stumbled upon our first night in Paris.

Jardins du Luxembourg - this gorgeously manicured park in the 6th arrondissement is a joy to spend time in.  There is a plethora of chairs arranged all over the park for you to lounge in - even choose from an upright or a recliner :)  There is a lovely take-out cafe, fountains, sculptures and statues everywhere, and don't miss the Orangerie, which is used as a gallery space, and yes, we luckily happened upon an opening, complete with champagne and macarons. Be warned though - the grass is just for show, and there is only one designated area where you can walk/sit on it! 

If you want a little more solitude, try Parc des Buttes Chaumont, which is in the 19th and is really lovely - if you have kids you can send them on a pony ride while you check out the grotto and waterfall.

What else?  Take the shoes you normally wear, not the ones you think are going to be comfortable.  The weather is just as unpredictable as it is in eastern Canada.  If you are vegan or have a wheat or dairy allergy, stay away from the French restaurants because they will have nothing for you.  Museums can be exhausting as well as uplifting so choose a couple that you really want to see, and don't try to do them both in one day.  DO go down to the banks of the Seine near the Pont D'Austerlitz in the early evening for the dancing that happens there - you'll find Lindy Hop, Salsa, Folk Dancing, and much more.  The people are extremely welcoming and you can take your wine down there with you.

Oh, and when you go to the Eiffel Tower, go at night.  It's much more beautiful lit up, and it's open until midnight.  You can pay a few Euro less to take the stairs rather than the elevator, and even though you may have walked over 20 km that day already, and your feet may be throbbing, and you can't wait to get back to your hotel, when your partner turns to you and says, "You know what, let's take the stairs!"  just do it.  It's worth it when you get up there. :)

Rule #1: Don't Panic

footprints at sandbanks - monica lacey 201

Yesterday I babysat the two young children of a good friend.  We had a pretty jam-packed day of activities, but in a quiet afternoon lull the three of us got to talking about swimming.  It turned out they didn't really understand floating, so I explained about the air in your lungs and so on.  Then they asked 'how come people sink sometimes?' and I explained the concept of panic to them, and how you stop breathing when you panic and then you won't float.  They thought about it and concluded that it was best, indeed, not to panic. 

It was a timely and interesting conversation for me to have with these wise little ones in my current in-between state of post-graduation, post-residency limbo.  An excellent reminder:  don't panic.  Okay.  There are so many things they don't tell you in art school, and maybe if they did tell you it would make you run the other way.  They don't tell you that if you open yourself to be authentic in your work that it will open you to feeling most everything around you.  They don't tell you how to deal with that or filter it.  They don't tell you that when you finish you will suddenly be in the middle of the ocean on a tiny ship with no map and no compass.  They certainly don't tell you that there is no map or compass.

This is the point where faith must kick in and be the water in which you can float.  Absolutely everything that has happened since I started down this path of dedicating myself to my art has been a clear validation that I am going the right way.  So I suppose I'll just continue and see where it goes, attempting to bludgeon my harsh inner critic into a submissive silence all the while.  Amazing that some people imagine the life of a working artist to be an easy one...but honestly, I can't imagine doing anything else.  :)

So, back to the drawing board.  Literally and metaphorically.  And trying not to get hopelessly distracted by the internet feeding me things like this and this and this.  Recently I went to see Beginners at the wonderful local rep cinema, City Cinema, here in Charlottetown.  It was a wonderfully cathartic film - at one point all you could here were quiet sobs in the theater, followed not long after by laughter.  It's all about starting over, and doing your best because it is always worth it to try.

he who would travel happily must travel light

summer field, county road 5- monica lacey 2011

Even as a little kid I always carried too much stuff with me.  It used to be bits of paper, rocks, sticks, little treasures, all stuffed into shopping bags, and now it’s a computer, a camera, sketchbooks, novels, art supplies, magazines, clothes, a yoga mat, several pairs of shoes…I haven’t really learned how to travel lightly yet, but this trip is certainly motivating me to master that lesson.  Getting on the train in Belleville yesterday with 4 bags was a bit much.  All the Via posters proclaiming ‘a more human way to travel’ in reference to the train, and I was thinking, “one bag - that would be more human(e)”. 

So yesterday marked the end of my 4-week residency at Spark Box Studio in Picton, Ontario.  I went there almost immediately after graduating in June, and my assessment is that, for art students, a residency is an excellent transition aid when you finish school.  I really had time to reflect on my studies and experiences, and to process where I had come from and where I wanted to go next with my work and my life as a professional artist.  

When I was deciding where to go to do a residency, I looked at places all over the world.  With the funding I had for it, and because of some other scheduling constraints, I knew I would have to go in July or August.  Due to my inability to cope whatsoever with temperatures above 30 degrees or so, I automatically eliminated large cities and anywhere south.  I then began focusing on what my goals were, and one of them is that I would like to develop an Artist Residency/Arts Centre in PEI and I wanted to learn more about that kind of operation.  During my seemingly endless Internet research this little printmaking studio in Ontario kept popping up.  :)

the 'mediterranean courtyard' at Spark Box

Spark Box was a really excellent choice – selected mostly on intuition and affection for the atmosphere of their marketing; I just had a feeling it was the right place.  And it was.  The owners are exceptionally kind, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and generous folks who I shall certainly miss and hope to see again before long.  The landscape is serene and uplifting, the studios spacious and well-equipped, and the house comfortable and beautifully decorated with care and a keen eye for antiques and unique details.  Despite not usually liking dogs of small stature, I even fell hopelessly in love with Rico, the Chihuahua/Corgi little dog who won me over with his wacky personality and big brown eyes. 

Rico

In the month I spent at the residency I managed to complete all the work I set out to do, visit with my sister and a family friend who came to visit, spend quality time with my fellow residents and the studio owners, go to a film festival, explore the towns of Picton and Bloomfield as well as 8 different beaches, maintain daily yoga and exercise, experiment with new techniques and practices, go on several photo shoots, and write this blog.  Great success!  Now I have a day in Toronto and then home to my island and all the joys ahead. :)

repetitive tasks and the blazing heat

The other day Chrissy told me about a friend of hers who theorized that the ‘rapture’ has, in fact, already come and that we are currently in hell, hence the heat.  When she told me this I scoffed initially and had a laugh, but after the past few days of intense humidity and unbearable heat, I’m starting to wonder….

This week I’m running editions of my photo-etching plates, which means making print after print from the same plate.  It’s quite a process, like preparing a multi-dish meal.  You have to soak your paper, ink and wipe your plate and then line everything up and run it through the press, trying to stay nice and clean all the while.  It’s one of those things that, when you get efficient and fast at it, is endless satisfying.  I wouldn’t say I’m quite there yet – I’m still a rookie printmaker, but I’m getting better all the time. 

me checking my prints

Printmaking is actually kind of a perfect thing to be doing in this weather – you need to be in a kind of concentrated zen-like state so that you don’t miss any details, but sedated enough that you can keep repeating your actions as closely as possible.  The perfect soundtrack for this?  The album Music has a Right to Children by Boards of Canada.  Listening to it is like being hypnotized - you’ll never notice the time passing.  But in a good way, not in a wake-up-and-think-you’re-a-chicken way.  :)

 

I’ve just been introduced to hyberboleandahalf, which is an incredibly hilarious and perceptive comic-blog by a gifted and ridiculous gal named Allie Brosh who, when asked, responded that she indeed does love ham.  This morning we spent at least 2 hours reading her stories, which easily could have come from any of our lives, and are illustrated with gloriously lo-fi Paint drawings.   

Recently, while wondering aloud how the heck people maintain regular blogs, I was told that many people go heavy on the images, light on the text.  “Oh,” I said, “you mean people don’t write an essay every time?”  That makes sense.  Saves time.  A picture is worth a word or two, right?  Since the heat is melting my brain into mush, here are some random images of Prince Edward County:  

the neat/bizarre Birdhouse City in Picton - ml 2011

the most amazing sign - monica lacey 2011

sheep - monica lacey 2011

a mermaid for you (I didn't make it) - monica lacey 2011

as long as you have a memory you have something to search for

secret beach, prince edward county - monica lacey 201

My former fellow resident, Jessica (she's gone home to Atlanta now), introduced me to Radiolab podcasts recently - it's a show produced by WNYC and it is excellent.  Each episode they pick a theme/topic (usually of a philosophical nature) & then they take a relatively lighthearted, well-edited look at that topic from a variety of angles.  I listened to one about memory the other day with her & it was riveting.  It really highlighted the importance of this faculty we so often take for granted.  If you speak to anyone who has gone through, or has had a loved one go through any kind of memory loss, you find out that life just isn't the same without your memories.  It's largely how we make sense of our world and yet it is so delicate and tenuous.  Interesting to think about how our memories are always changing - we're forever examining them from new angles, and with new eyes.

I suppose I have memory on my mind because I've identified it as a major theme in my work and as something I am interested in exploring in depth.  As a photographer, when I capture an image, I often think of how that image will later be part of the construct of a memory of a specific moment & am made aware of how it is capturing only a fragment of the moment and that the rest will be filled in by whosoever is remembering.

I’ve been making a lot of new memories here, meeting great folks & enjoying the beautiful scenery.  This past weekend was spent doing some glorious beach-hopping with my sister, who drove down from Toronto.  We were given some tips by Chrissy about 'secret' beaches where you have to drive down 4-wheeler tracks, but when you get to the water it is worth every pothole.  I can see why people retire here - it's a lot like PEI, in that you can have a very, very high quality of life.  It was also good for me to take some time off from thinking about art, talking about art, making art.  No one can work every day.  :)

back road, prince edward county - monica lacey 2011

Just the other day we had an amazing thunderstorm, which apparently turned into a tornado in some areas.  When I heard today about the tornado-damage, my first reaction was to want to go and photograph it.  It made me wonder if I’m getting too detached from trauma for my own good, with all these abandoned and damaged places I love to frequent.  But I guess that’s part of the work of the artist – to reach through where other things can’t and to stand the pain (or the joy) so as to record it and express it in some way.  Memory.