Going back to Lizzie

Cuz it's easier for kiddos to say than Elizabeth

The last few times I wrote I didn’t cover art. Let’s get to it, shall we?

But first, a secret:

I’m scared of thunder. Wide-eyed terrified. It shakes my body to the core. The sky that pins us down becomes a blanket of flesh being ripped from its noble atomic bones.

(Gruesome, innit?)

Ok... Where were we?

From winter to spring, I was overwhelmed with projects.

Now, in deep summer, I’ve finished so very much, including my collaborative fence piece. The project consisted of a few dozen artists creating fence planks inspired by a section of Kentucky is My Land, by Jesse Stuart. The fence is on display at the Art Center of the Bluegrass until August 17th (2022) and there’s talk of moving it around the state (KY).

For summer followed with work on the high hills.
I plowed the earth on steep slopes
And hoed corn, tobacco, cane, besides my strong mother
With a bright-warn gooseneck hoe.
Summer brought good earthy smells

Of tobacco, cane and corn and ferny loam and growing roots.
Summer brought berries too
That grew wild in the crevice rocks,
On the loamy coves and in the deep valleys.
Here grew the wild blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and
dewberries.
All I had to do was take my bucket and pick them up.

My team was Kate Lockhard Snyder (owner of Plaid Elephant Books), who did the bottom plank in mosaic, and Lynda Ross, who painted the middle plank and headed this project. My plank, on top, is fabric cutouts and random bits and bobs - screws, beads, a few gems from a local geode.

We’d agreed on the woman’s silhouette and I’d originally planned to paint mine. I stalled. Then I thought about the fabrics I’ve designed,¹ but none were long enough to span all that horizontal space. I stalled. Then a quilter friend dropped off pounds upon pounds of leftover fabric, so I did some productive procrastinating and got to collage-like fabric cutting, focusing on flowers and bold colors. I woke up the next day remembering that art is allowed to be FUN. No need to get all MFA serious. It was incredibly enjoyable and I think that comes through when you see it.

I finally went wild.²

(Click on the pic to see a lil’ video!)

I also created endpapers for my friend Tate DeCaro’s book (which you can purchase here). It’s a lovely compilation of responses—these simple sentences containing entire stories—from folks answering the question:

“What did you accomplish³ during the pandemic?”

My contribution was this collection of lil’ fellas, which I love so much!⁴

As for the endpapers, I’d created a colorful version (which we chose) as well as a softer grey and white version. Which do you prefer?

Meanwhile, at my amazing library job, we create a summer of non-stop programming based on the state-wide Oceans of Possibilities theme, so I painted this bright mural on the glass between the children’s section from the Learning Depot.

(Click on the pic to see a lil’ video!)

And then I sent out over a dozen #tchotchkeboxes, fully depleting my stash (although I’ve already got new items coming in). Learn more about this free and quietly kind project here.

I also completed my sound design for a joint presentation with YA auther Heather Henson and her book Wrecked. Here is the book and here is the blurb from Simon and Schuster to get a feel for the story.

A character in the book records ambient sound on his phone, which I also love to do, so I collected KY-specific sounds and turned them into soundscapes and music to accompany a live reading of the first two chapters. I got to teach a bit about the process and was so excited about it all I gave myself the goosebumples! We’ve since applied for a mega interdisciplinary NEA grant (results next spring). Fingers crossed, everyone!

Here’s what I made for my presentation to high schoolers. Think of it as an audio version of a trailer.

And finally, during all of this, our quartet (two parents, two kids) bought a home and moved to a city 85 miles away. The guest sofa-bed is kinda small, since I bought it and I’m kinda small and forgot other real-sized people would need to be comfortable on it, but you are always welcome!

If we’re home, the door’s open.

Love you,

Lizzie

1. My designs are on sale via Spoonflower

2. I guess you could say this project finally grew on me, hehehe

3. Accomplish being more like I-made-my-bed-every-day and not so much I-built-a-log-cabin-with-my-bare-hands

4. Wanna write a story for ‘em? I’d love to make more!