WE ARE NOT ALONE

We are certainly not alone in the challenges of the past year.

My best friend, JK (pronounced Jake) back in Wisconsin, spent a large part of the 2018 summer defending against continuous high water flooding in her not-on-a-flood-plain neighborhood thanks to unprecedented rainfall.

JK’s spouse had two major surgeries just a couple months apart, both with lengthy recovery periods. And as I did, JK retired in early 2019.

Like me JK is also a quilter and an artist, trying to show up, keep working, take joy in the process, and contribute something creatively meaningful in the world.

So many artists over the age of 50 have been working at their art and their practice for most of their lives. Lives that included/include raising children, earning a living, caring for elderly family members, getting downsized and being made redundant, and being laid low by illness (theirs or others) to list just a few. And yet they still show up in the studio, at the drawing board, in the workshop.

“Art is anything that is done well.” (John Dewey)

A whole lot of us have been showing up and doing things well for one hell of a long time. We deserve a very big round of applause. Right before we get straight back to work.