Successes 2020
A list! 12days is a daily writing challenge hosted by children’s book writer and inspirer Julie Hedlund For Day 3, the prompt is to post a list of 2020 successes big and small and most importantly, in spite of the hardship of this year. Yikes, right? So here goes…I’m transcribing my list from the little black book where it was created, in no particular order of importance except for the first thing.
Artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman of For Freedoms and the new Wide Awakes blew my mind when they spoke at a Lunder Institute/Colby College virtual event. I made this drawing in their honor. Reverberations for 2021, tbc…
I finished my first picture book - final art delivered in April, proofs and cover reveal in July, advance copies in hand this month and much more fun to come. Ahhhhhooooooooooooo!
I received a Maine Arts Commission (MAC) Project Grant for Artists which enabled me to hire Matchstick Communications to create this website. I’ve been saying I needed to work on my site for like 10 years so this is a big deal. Huge gratitude to MAC for financial support and Matchstick Communications for design and inspiration.
My July and December scans were the best they’ve been since 2016 when a recurrence of breast cancer broke my femur. Stable and strong and onward!
I completed the Inktober challenge - 31 unique images including a bunch of continuous drawing animations using ink in some aspect.
A friend hired me to illustrate a very special picture book, and the printed book was gifted to the author and her family on Christmas.
Two awesome art exchanges happened - Pickwick Independent Press hosted 10x10 and I made 40 nearly identical miniature paper sculpture/relief print record players. Relief Conspiracy hosted their second annual postcard exchange with printmakers from all over the world participating.
Unity Public Library (opening 2021 in Unity, ME) invited me to join their board!
Last but definitely not least, in March when Maine Crafts Association went into survival mode and furloughed most of us indefinitely, I made the difficult decision to leave my work as an arts administrator and to fully commit to my studio practice. What this means for 2021and beyond is daunting and thrilling.
