Last night, I attended the opening reception for Stone Canoe's Artists' Exhibition at Art Rage Gallery. Stone Canoe is a self-described journal of "arts, literature and social commentary". This is its eighth edition. If you thumb through a copy of this journal, you will see a huge range of work: sonnets, sculpture, short plays, site specific installations.
This eclectic mix of artists and writers didn't let a fresh installation of five new inches of snow stop them from coming out last night either. Art Rage Gallery was elbow-to-elbow with 76 of upstate NY's talented writers and artists, and admirers of their work. I was so impressed by Art Rage's warm atmosphere, plentiful food and the quality of the display. Syracuse isn't a big city and, weather-wise, it can be rather gray and dismal but there was no shortage of color last night. There is so much diverse talent under the city's wintery veneer, and the intimate setting imbued a real sense of community.
Stone Canoe has made its mission to showcase local talent,committed to submissions from upstate NY artists and writers. Like the region itself, the artists define the landscapes of art in a variety of ways. Journals are available through Stone Canoe's website, and the exhibit will run at Art Rage Gallery until February 8th.
This eclectic mix of artists and writers didn't let a fresh installation of five new inches of snow stop them from coming out last night either. Art Rage Gallery was elbow-to-elbow with 76 of upstate NY's talented writers and artists, and admirers of their work. I was so impressed by Art Rage's warm atmosphere, plentiful food and the quality of the display. Syracuse isn't a big city and, weather-wise, it can be rather gray and dismal but there was no shortage of color last night. There is so much diverse talent under the city's wintery veneer, and the intimate setting imbued a real sense of community.
Stone Canoe has made its mission to showcase local talent,committed to submissions from upstate NY artists and writers. Like the region itself, the artists define the landscapes of art in a variety of ways. Journals are available through Stone Canoe's website, and the exhibit will run at Art Rage Gallery until February 8th.
Hands by Moya Cannon
Moya Cannon is a Galway-based poet. When I lived in Galway, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop she offered at the National University of Galway, Ireland. Moya has won many awards and had much critical acclaim for her poetry. She is also one of the warmest and most approachable people I've had the pleasure of meeting. At the end of the workshop, she not only helped us edit and publish our own group book of poetry but also took us into her home and fed us delicious food. Home-cooked food and professional feedback for starving students: what could be better?
Hands is her most recent collection. Cannon watches the light fall between the trees and appreciates the small moments that remind us both of our mortality and of the fleeting beauty that life gives us. As a poet, she is sensitive to the greater meanings that exist in these moments: the things we take for granted, the hands that give us light and can't stop it from slipping away.
Hands is her most recent collection. Cannon watches the light fall between the trees and appreciates the small moments that remind us both of our mortality and of the fleeting beauty that life gives us. As a poet, she is sensitive to the greater meanings that exist in these moments: the things we take for granted, the hands that give us light and can't stop it from slipping away.
Secrets No One Must Talk About by Martin Willitts Jr.
Martin Willitts Jr is a Syracuse-based poet who I have had the pleasure of hearing read at the local Palace Poetry group.
This collection brings the reader to a startling landscape- rugged and frightening in its wildness-and to people who are searching for satisfaction. There is a strong sense of loss and pain, for a thirst that is never quite quenched, for sweetness that doesn't last. But there is also hope: rebirth after grieving, as in "Hiding from Pain", the second-to-last poem in the collection.
I find these poems to be so melodic. I love the repetition of words and the circular way they come to their greatest conclusions. They are like thoughts set to music, which I suppose is what poetry always longs to be. They are vivid and visceral, you can roll these poems around in your mouth. Willits is an extremely prolific writer so I'll be seeking out more of his work.
This collection brings the reader to a startling landscape- rugged and frightening in its wildness-and to people who are searching for satisfaction. There is a strong sense of loss and pain, for a thirst that is never quite quenched, for sweetness that doesn't last. But there is also hope: rebirth after grieving, as in "Hiding from Pain", the second-to-last poem in the collection.
I find these poems to be so melodic. I love the repetition of words and the circular way they come to their greatest conclusions. They are like thoughts set to music, which I suppose is what poetry always longs to be. They are vivid and visceral, you can roll these poems around in your mouth. Willits is an extremely prolific writer so I'll be seeking out more of his work.
A Day in the life of Writer, N.E. Swinton
Nicole Swinton writes non-fiction and poetry, inspired by motherhood and the natural beauty of upstate NY. Her work is filled with imagery, that is made more memorable with beautiful photography. She has a blog and has recently completed a memoir project entitled Circle 30. All photographs and writing are from Nicole.
7:00 a.m. Sitting on the couch with the MacBook in a kind of writing euphoria, listening to The Smiths, enjoying the solitude of night. Thinking how great it is that I finished my writing and might be able to sleep a bit before the kids wake up. Then I realize I can see the trees outside the window and it hits me: the sun’s up. I hear the sound of little feet padding down the hall looking for food and I think no, no, wait! I’m not ready! I thank God there’s cold coffee in the fridge, chug it, serve the kids bowls of yogurt and granola and an entire loaf of toast and a few other carbs. My husband’s happy to see me because he usually rocks the morning routine solo. I think the most loving thing he does for me is to get the kids their breakfast and make the coffee and not wake me up. But not today. Today I kiss him goodbye at the door like a proper housewife.
In a way, my day, as a writer, begins in the evening. I’ve been a night owl since childhood so I generally keep writing hours between 9 p.m. and midnight. It’s also not uncommon for me to stay up the entire night working. My creativity and energy seem to flow between midnight and sunrise. This is also when I’d write all my papers back in school. In terms of time, my internal clock and ability to function without sleep makes for very little conflict between being a stay at home mom and a writer. So for twelve hours a day I care for and homeschool my three daughters without stressing too much about how to find time to write.
I feel much more conflicted in terms of my focus. Between the mom/wife/functioning member of society part of my brain and the reclusive writer part. I’m very intentional in my parenting and put a lot of energy into my relationship with my husband because I believe a strong family is founded on a thriving marriage. But I also have a deep passion for writing. My kindergarten report card has a note from Mrs. Ziegler indicating that I excelled at writing stories. The love of words, of reading and writing, has always been central to my character. It continued through my college studies and into adulthood. But I was engaged at 18, married at 19 and had my first baby by 21 so, really, family and writing have always vied for my attention.
In a way, my day, as a writer, begins in the evening. I’ve been a night owl since childhood so I generally keep writing hours between 9 p.m. and midnight. It’s also not uncommon for me to stay up the entire night working. My creativity and energy seem to flow between midnight and sunrise. This is also when I’d write all my papers back in school. In terms of time, my internal clock and ability to function without sleep makes for very little conflict between being a stay at home mom and a writer. So for twelve hours a day I care for and homeschool my three daughters without stressing too much about how to find time to write.
I feel much more conflicted in terms of my focus. Between the mom/wife/functioning member of society part of my brain and the reclusive writer part. I’m very intentional in my parenting and put a lot of energy into my relationship with my husband because I believe a strong family is founded on a thriving marriage. But I also have a deep passion for writing. My kindergarten report card has a note from Mrs. Ziegler indicating that I excelled at writing stories. The love of words, of reading and writing, has always been central to my character. It continued through my college studies and into adulthood. But I was engaged at 18, married at 19 and had my first baby by 21 so, really, family and writing have always vied for my attention.
10:00 a.m. I need to pay the bills online, schedule a couple appointments over the phone and call my sister who’s living on the other side of the country for a month. I give the girls some flashcards and tell them to find one object for every phonogram sound. They run off, asking one another what sounds they have and throwing out ideas. An hour later, they have turned the entire house upside down and are absorbed in constructing a miniature castle out of every block, book and box in the house. Most of the flashcards are on display across the kitchen floor with corresponding objects. Better than the spelling list scavenger hunt, which was handed back to me with an equal number of spelling words and question marks. I send the girls to switch the laundry and bring in more firewood and I start dinner. I don’t usually plan dinner until about dinnertime but we really need to go shopping so I have to get creative. I come up with dried black beans, rice, canned tomatoes, frozen corn and leftover chicken. Soup it is. We even have broken tortilla chips for a garnish.
Having three kids in four years nurtured the recluse in me. I needed to live in that bubble of maternal love and sweet babies, moment to moment. My writing took on a different dimension during this time. My desire to write creatively greatly diminished and I seldom wrote poetry or prose. Particularly during phases when I had an exclusively breastfed co-sleeping infant, which lasted for nearly a year per baby. There was very little time to do things like shower or sleep or talk to other adults. I wrote very infrequently and when I did it took the form of extensive handwritten journaling binges. I felt compelled to document: 20 pages about childbirth, 10 pages about baby’s milestones or about the one thing I did outside the house that month. Writing was therapeutic. I wasn’t thinking about writing as work or something for others to read. Writing to be read was a much later development for me. In college I was very active with creative writing and student publications but in the following decade my stories and poems and journal entries were something I did to keep my pen moving. Pregnancy, childbirth and that first year are nothing less than a miraculous marathon. Journaling satisfied my need to write and think and not totally lose myself.
As our first child reached school age, I spent a lot of time researching homeschool methods and found myself developing a solid philosophy about education. After much discussion, my husband and I decided to give it a whirl. I fell in love with it. It felt like such a privilege, one that almost slipped right through my hands without a second thought, to create a lifestyle and love of learning in our own home. Homeschooling, for our family, creates an intimate, low-stress environment ideal for education. We emphasize classical education ideals and natural childhood inclinations toward play and hands-on exploration of the world. I love the freedom and flexibility of not running our family around a school schedule. It is a blessing to see my daughters happy and unpressured at home, running wild through the trees and taking great joy in their bond as sisters. Their appetite for literature is only rivaled by their desire to imagine and create. In other words, they get to just be children. Our lifestyle is a major advantage in my creative pursuits. Bonus: plenty of photo ops for my blog when we spend the school week planning a carpentry project for math and covering science on trail hikes.
Having three kids in four years nurtured the recluse in me. I needed to live in that bubble of maternal love and sweet babies, moment to moment. My writing took on a different dimension during this time. My desire to write creatively greatly diminished and I seldom wrote poetry or prose. Particularly during phases when I had an exclusively breastfed co-sleeping infant, which lasted for nearly a year per baby. There was very little time to do things like shower or sleep or talk to other adults. I wrote very infrequently and when I did it took the form of extensive handwritten journaling binges. I felt compelled to document: 20 pages about childbirth, 10 pages about baby’s milestones or about the one thing I did outside the house that month. Writing was therapeutic. I wasn’t thinking about writing as work or something for others to read. Writing to be read was a much later development for me. In college I was very active with creative writing and student publications but in the following decade my stories and poems and journal entries were something I did to keep my pen moving. Pregnancy, childbirth and that first year are nothing less than a miraculous marathon. Journaling satisfied my need to write and think and not totally lose myself.
As our first child reached school age, I spent a lot of time researching homeschool methods and found myself developing a solid philosophy about education. After much discussion, my husband and I decided to give it a whirl. I fell in love with it. It felt like such a privilege, one that almost slipped right through my hands without a second thought, to create a lifestyle and love of learning in our own home. Homeschooling, for our family, creates an intimate, low-stress environment ideal for education. We emphasize classical education ideals and natural childhood inclinations toward play and hands-on exploration of the world. I love the freedom and flexibility of not running our family around a school schedule. It is a blessing to see my daughters happy and unpressured at home, running wild through the trees and taking great joy in their bond as sisters. Their appetite for literature is only rivaled by their desire to imagine and create. In other words, they get to just be children. Our lifestyle is a major advantage in my creative pursuits. Bonus: plenty of photo ops for my blog when we spend the school week planning a carpentry project for math and covering science on trail hikes.
1:00 p.m. Surprisingly, the kids have not asked for lunch, which is cool because it’s always nicer to call them to the table than to be slamming together a PB&J to satiate wailing creatures tearing at my clothes (in spite of having had an apple and a banana, 80 pretzel sticks and 2 cups of milk since breakfast). I gather what’s left of half a dozen varieties of vegetables, chop them for dipping, put out a communal bucket of hummus, along with sunflower kernels, almonds and dried fruit. The children feast, fight a little and ask to go outside, which I happily agree too. Two out of three get their own cursed winter gear on, I eat the leftover lunch scraps and remind my 4-year-old to ask for help with her boots rather than letting out a bloodcurdling scream after a 2-second struggle. It’s been a bitterly cold winter and after weeks of riding bikes in the basement we are all desperate for time outdoors.
A year and a half ago, we moved from the Saratoga region of upstate New York another 2 hours north to the Adirondacks. There were some extenuating circumstances that made the transition difficult for our family. After we settled in we started spending more time hiking and exploring the natural surroundings of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. I was enraptured with the mountains and the water and the woods. The reward of nature soothed feelings of loneliness and uncertainty. This wild, lush place, which had at first seemed desolate compared to what we left behind, made me feel more at home than any city or old house ever could. Out in the sun and wind, summer storms and winter snow, there was nothing I wanted more than to partake of this beauty. (And take thousands of photographs.)
The Adirondacks were a real turning point for my writing, stirring something inside of me. The more time I spent simply enjoying my surroundings, the greater was my desire to write about life in this incredible location. I became overwhelmed with the need to write daily and, eventually, to share it with an audience. I started my blog, Upstately, in January 2013 and it was a perfect outlet for writing and photography. It also helped with landing my first professional writing gig. A filmmaking team invited me to spend 3 weeks in Rwanda to write about my experiences as they filmed a documentary about the 1994 genocide and the reconciliation process. It was a challenge to be away from my children for the first time but it was deeply enriching, both personally and for my craft. Travel is always a major source of inspiration, getting me out of my comfort zone and introducing me to new people and places. It floods my mind with material and a renewed enthusiasm for writing. One of my favorite places to write is on long train rides. I love watching all the passing sights and having quiet time to myself to write as the movement and rhythm inspires.
A year and a half ago, we moved from the Saratoga region of upstate New York another 2 hours north to the Adirondacks. There were some extenuating circumstances that made the transition difficult for our family. After we settled in we started spending more time hiking and exploring the natural surroundings of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. I was enraptured with the mountains and the water and the woods. The reward of nature soothed feelings of loneliness and uncertainty. This wild, lush place, which had at first seemed desolate compared to what we left behind, made me feel more at home than any city or old house ever could. Out in the sun and wind, summer storms and winter snow, there was nothing I wanted more than to partake of this beauty. (And take thousands of photographs.)
The Adirondacks were a real turning point for my writing, stirring something inside of me. The more time I spent simply enjoying my surroundings, the greater was my desire to write about life in this incredible location. I became overwhelmed with the need to write daily and, eventually, to share it with an audience. I started my blog, Upstately, in January 2013 and it was a perfect outlet for writing and photography. It also helped with landing my first professional writing gig. A filmmaking team invited me to spend 3 weeks in Rwanda to write about my experiences as they filmed a documentary about the 1994 genocide and the reconciliation process. It was a challenge to be away from my children for the first time but it was deeply enriching, both personally and for my craft. Travel is always a major source of inspiration, getting me out of my comfort zone and introducing me to new people and places. It floods my mind with material and a renewed enthusiasm for writing. One of my favorite places to write is on long train rides. I love watching all the passing sights and having quiet time to myself to write as the movement and rhythm inspires.
4:00 p.m. School so far today: division facts, playing store for math with money, baking banana bread that the girls asked to bring to a neighbor, practicing French conversation and a few impromptu kid-initiated art explosions. We still need to do our history reading, wrapping up the last year and a half of studying the medieval world. And the girls need to do their independent math work. But I’m crashing so hard at this point in the day that I’m looking at the couch and thinking how much yummier it looks than a cup of coffee. “Quiet book time” is a sacred time in our home. Our kids never fight it and it guarantees a long uninterrupted moment of peace, any day, any time. I read a stack of library books to my younger two girls. My oldest listens as she reads The Swiss Family Robinson on her own. Already multitasking at 8-years-old.
Perhaps my primary motive in choosing to homeschool was to introduce my children to great literature and allow them a lifestyle with plenty of free reading time. I try to immerse them in culture-rich history, music and art and classic writing. At any given time, the kids have their noses in books or are being read to. Personally, the older I get, the more I long for my own free reading time. I never really saw the appeal of renting a beach house for a week until I recently thought of the idea of a week long vacation to do nothing but read. My family can swim and run around the beach but I must be left alone with my books. My list is ever growing. I tend to stick to classics in fiction, poetry and philosophy. I am a Hemingway devotee. His short stories are comfort food for my brain and I think For Whom the Bell Tolls is the most romantic summer read of all time. I like to work through all or most of an author’s body of work and I generally read multiple books simultaneously. It started as a kid when I combined required reading with reading for pleasure. Now I just have too much I want to read and not enough time. I’m not good at delaying literary gratification. Right now I’m reading Saul Bellow and John Steinbeck.
When it comes to being inspired by other writers, I am perhaps more inspired by music than by books. I was more familiar with musicians than authors when I was very young. I am old enough to have received a record player and a Madonna album for Christmas as a kid. I listened to all my mom’s old records: Queen, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, The Police. My favorite thing to do was make mixed tapes off the radio, my substitute storyteller. I fell in love with David Bowie, The Clash, Prince, Depeche Mode and R.E.M. Music is a significant part of my life, daily and as a whole. It is my favorite poetry. I always write with music as it sets the tone for my work. It energizes and motivates me. It helps maintain a particular mood or perspective in my writing. All of my writing, including fiction, is based on particular events or people in my life and music refreshes my memory and puts me in the center of the experience.
Perhaps my primary motive in choosing to homeschool was to introduce my children to great literature and allow them a lifestyle with plenty of free reading time. I try to immerse them in culture-rich history, music and art and classic writing. At any given time, the kids have their noses in books or are being read to. Personally, the older I get, the more I long for my own free reading time. I never really saw the appeal of renting a beach house for a week until I recently thought of the idea of a week long vacation to do nothing but read. My family can swim and run around the beach but I must be left alone with my books. My list is ever growing. I tend to stick to classics in fiction, poetry and philosophy. I am a Hemingway devotee. His short stories are comfort food for my brain and I think For Whom the Bell Tolls is the most romantic summer read of all time. I like to work through all or most of an author’s body of work and I generally read multiple books simultaneously. It started as a kid when I combined required reading with reading for pleasure. Now I just have too much I want to read and not enough time. I’m not good at delaying literary gratification. Right now I’m reading Saul Bellow and John Steinbeck.
When it comes to being inspired by other writers, I am perhaps more inspired by music than by books. I was more familiar with musicians than authors when I was very young. I am old enough to have received a record player and a Madonna album for Christmas as a kid. I listened to all my mom’s old records: Queen, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, The Police. My favorite thing to do was make mixed tapes off the radio, my substitute storyteller. I fell in love with David Bowie, The Clash, Prince, Depeche Mode and R.E.M. Music is a significant part of my life, daily and as a whole. It is my favorite poetry. I always write with music as it sets the tone for my work. It energizes and motivates me. It helps maintain a particular mood or perspective in my writing. All of my writing, including fiction, is based on particular events or people in my life and music refreshes my memory and puts me in the center of the experience.
7:00 p.m. The girls are fed and bathed and completely wound up. My husband’s trying to get them to settle down for story time. He’s working through the Little House series with them, even though our 8-year-old has read every book three times over. She just can’t get enough. Every other week she asks if they can watch the television version. I should look into that. Right now I have four loads of folded laundry to put away. And I should give the kids the book I bought as a souvenir for them when I visited New York City over a week ago. Keep forgetting. But I want to read it to them so I’ll wait until tomorrow. Right now I need to reply to the Facebook thread for homeschool co-op and start planning what I’m going to teach the preschool class in a couple weeks. I also need to text the girls’ riding instructor to confirm the spring lesson schedule beginning next month. I really need to write that blog post that’s been floating around my brain for the last week…
There are so many little everyday distractions to my writing. Combined with my obsessive-compulsive need to have a clean house, it can be a challenge to just get going. At my worst, my husband found me vacuuming at midnight. In my defense, I needed to physically map out pages of notes and writing and the living room floor was speckled with debris from the fireplace. I’m at war with woodchips all winter long. But I also don’t want to stay up late writing and wake up to a kitchen full of dinner dishes or nothing ready to go on a day we need to leave the house in the morning. My husband does his share of domestic duties but his work often comes home, too. I fantasize about starting to write by 7 p.m. but in reality I never seem to get my act together before 9 p.m. Not after collecting all the library returns and swim day gear, figuring out if we have any food that can be transported in a bag lunch (leftover soup, not so much) and dealing with kids getting out of bed for more water and lost bedtime animals and all the band-aids for injuries that didn’t hurt all day long.
Amidst the craziness, I am satisfied to know that I am making accomplishments, achieving small goals. I am writing daily and taking care of my family and showing my daughters that it is a myth to have to choose between family and career. There will obviously be compromises and limits. I choose to be at home and to educate my children and those things take priority over my writing. It makes for very slow progress at times. But I always remind myself that I never know what’s coming. One year ago I would not have believed that I would work on a writing project, Unforgiven:Rwanda, in Africa. I did not know that I would take on a month long memoir project, Circle 30. I could not have imagined the highs and lows of the last year. All of it has only strengthened my resolve to keep writing and to keep my mind open. Even if my writing sometimes seems to have a dry spell or I hit a wall. Even if there is backlash or rejection letters or empty flattery. Just as with my family, when it comes to writing I’m in it for the long haul.
There are so many little everyday distractions to my writing. Combined with my obsessive-compulsive need to have a clean house, it can be a challenge to just get going. At my worst, my husband found me vacuuming at midnight. In my defense, I needed to physically map out pages of notes and writing and the living room floor was speckled with debris from the fireplace. I’m at war with woodchips all winter long. But I also don’t want to stay up late writing and wake up to a kitchen full of dinner dishes or nothing ready to go on a day we need to leave the house in the morning. My husband does his share of domestic duties but his work often comes home, too. I fantasize about starting to write by 7 p.m. but in reality I never seem to get my act together before 9 p.m. Not after collecting all the library returns and swim day gear, figuring out if we have any food that can be transported in a bag lunch (leftover soup, not so much) and dealing with kids getting out of bed for more water and lost bedtime animals and all the band-aids for injuries that didn’t hurt all day long.
Amidst the craziness, I am satisfied to know that I am making accomplishments, achieving small goals. I am writing daily and taking care of my family and showing my daughters that it is a myth to have to choose between family and career. There will obviously be compromises and limits. I choose to be at home and to educate my children and those things take priority over my writing. It makes for very slow progress at times. But I always remind myself that I never know what’s coming. One year ago I would not have believed that I would work on a writing project, Unforgiven:Rwanda, in Africa. I did not know that I would take on a month long memoir project, Circle 30. I could not have imagined the highs and lows of the last year. All of it has only strengthened my resolve to keep writing and to keep my mind open. Even if my writing sometimes seems to have a dry spell or I hit a wall. Even if there is backlash or rejection letters or empty flattery. Just as with my family, when it comes to writing I’m in it for the long haul.
An Interview with Two Fellow Mother-Artists
Recently
I met with two fellow mom artists to discuss the ups and downs of our lives as
mothers with young children and artists:
-Mitzie Testani is an illustrator who works in print and interactive design. She is currently working on an ABC collection with animals. She is on letter “T”. She has a 16 month old son named Alec.
-Maria Rizzo is a painter, currently working on a collection entitled Trees: Totems of Life. She has an exhibition of these paintings coming up in August at Mohegan Manor in Baldwinsville, NY. Maria has two young sons under the age of three.
-And myself: a writer and mother to an 18 month old son. My most current project is a sound and visual display that will be displayed in City Lights for the MARK on MAIN exhibition as part of Masters on Main, Catskill, NY.
We meet for a child-free dinner at Panera’s (a mother’s new definition of heaven: having a meal without popping up a hundred times for clean-ups, fallen sippy cups, less broccoli, more milk) and agreed that one challenge shared between artists and mothers is fighting society’s perception of work.Sometimes when you are home as a mother, people will ask you what you do all day. They picture mothers relaxing with their feet up or endlessly watching their children play. Sometimes when you work as an artist, people will think of what you do as a hobby: a way of indulging yourself with a pastime. Anyone who works as a mother or an artist knows that these beliefs are simply not true. Although we all take great pleasure in what we do, it is work.
Mitzie stays up late at night to work on her drawings or on the computer, even though her son sometimes rises as early as 5 am. She says the excitement of a project can keep her going past her physical exhaustion. Mitzie used to work outside the home and briefly enrolled Alec in full-time care, but describes dropping him off as a daily “agony”, one so many working mothers are familiar with. Although she feels blessed to be able to stay home with him now, she recognizes the need for her art more than ever: “I need to feel like I’m accomplishing stuff [as an artist],” she says. Creating work gives her “confidence” and feeds the “thinking part” of her soul.
Maria carves out time to paint in between her two sons’ naptimes, which often do not overlap. She might get an hour every two to three days. “Sometimes I might paint at 10, 11 or midnight if I’m not exhausted,” she says. In spite of the small amount of time available to her, Maria says motherhood has made her “more disciplined”. She said she had a harder time focusing before she had her children: there was always time to put off work. Now that time is so precious, all of her child-free time is used for art. Maria is also always educating herself about new ways to market her work. Right now she is learning to create website building code.
I myself utilize naptime to write. I pray to the gods of busy mothers that my son never drops his nap. Sometimes, we all agree, it can be difficult to prioritize art: to not clean up a toddler-ravaged house. Mitzie mentions “chunking time” strategies: a theory of time management in which tasks are prioritized and given time limits. I can do the dishes with my son. I cannot type on my keyboard while he paws at my hands. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming. As women, we want to give everything to our children but we also need time for ourselves. Work, yes, but as Maria puts it mother-artists may have a severe lack of “fun time” or relaxation time. We tend to utilize any available time for work. If we had one more hour in the day, we dream…Maria would love to go to more openings and events, Mitzie wants to experiement with more drawing styles (and perhaps sleep at some point!), I would love to have more time to read.
But we don’t. “Self-time has become more important,” says Mitzie, “I used to take on too much, be overcommitted all the time. I’ve learned to say no."
“I am seeing how fast time is going by, especially now that I’ve had my second,” says Maria recalling the three day time span she spent in the hospital giving birth to her second. In that very brief separation from her first son, he “changed so much”. Art and parenting young children are similar in these ways: both require time and patience. Both are about capturing the essence of a particular time. Both can drive you insane.
We wouldn't have it any other way. These are some resources that Maria and Mitzie have found helpful in both the creation and marketing of their work:
-NYFA:A national resource for awards, services, and information for artists and arts organizations.
-Society 6:A website to sell and buy artwork online
-Mitzie Testani is an illustrator who works in print and interactive design. She is currently working on an ABC collection with animals. She is on letter “T”. She has a 16 month old son named Alec.
-Maria Rizzo is a painter, currently working on a collection entitled Trees: Totems of Life. She has an exhibition of these paintings coming up in August at Mohegan Manor in Baldwinsville, NY. Maria has two young sons under the age of three.
-And myself: a writer and mother to an 18 month old son. My most current project is a sound and visual display that will be displayed in City Lights for the MARK on MAIN exhibition as part of Masters on Main, Catskill, NY.
We meet for a child-free dinner at Panera’s (a mother’s new definition of heaven: having a meal without popping up a hundred times for clean-ups, fallen sippy cups, less broccoli, more milk) and agreed that one challenge shared between artists and mothers is fighting society’s perception of work.Sometimes when you are home as a mother, people will ask you what you do all day. They picture mothers relaxing with their feet up or endlessly watching their children play. Sometimes when you work as an artist, people will think of what you do as a hobby: a way of indulging yourself with a pastime. Anyone who works as a mother or an artist knows that these beliefs are simply not true. Although we all take great pleasure in what we do, it is work.
Mitzie stays up late at night to work on her drawings or on the computer, even though her son sometimes rises as early as 5 am. She says the excitement of a project can keep her going past her physical exhaustion. Mitzie used to work outside the home and briefly enrolled Alec in full-time care, but describes dropping him off as a daily “agony”, one so many working mothers are familiar with. Although she feels blessed to be able to stay home with him now, she recognizes the need for her art more than ever: “I need to feel like I’m accomplishing stuff [as an artist],” she says. Creating work gives her “confidence” and feeds the “thinking part” of her soul.
Maria carves out time to paint in between her two sons’ naptimes, which often do not overlap. She might get an hour every two to three days. “Sometimes I might paint at 10, 11 or midnight if I’m not exhausted,” she says. In spite of the small amount of time available to her, Maria says motherhood has made her “more disciplined”. She said she had a harder time focusing before she had her children: there was always time to put off work. Now that time is so precious, all of her child-free time is used for art. Maria is also always educating herself about new ways to market her work. Right now she is learning to create website building code.
I myself utilize naptime to write. I pray to the gods of busy mothers that my son never drops his nap. Sometimes, we all agree, it can be difficult to prioritize art: to not clean up a toddler-ravaged house. Mitzie mentions “chunking time” strategies: a theory of time management in which tasks are prioritized and given time limits. I can do the dishes with my son. I cannot type on my keyboard while he paws at my hands. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming. As women, we want to give everything to our children but we also need time for ourselves. Work, yes, but as Maria puts it mother-artists may have a severe lack of “fun time” or relaxation time. We tend to utilize any available time for work. If we had one more hour in the day, we dream…Maria would love to go to more openings and events, Mitzie wants to experiement with more drawing styles (and perhaps sleep at some point!), I would love to have more time to read.
But we don’t. “Self-time has become more important,” says Mitzie, “I used to take on too much, be overcommitted all the time. I’ve learned to say no."
“I am seeing how fast time is going by, especially now that I’ve had my second,” says Maria recalling the three day time span she spent in the hospital giving birth to her second. In that very brief separation from her first son, he “changed so much”. Art and parenting young children are similar in these ways: both require time and patience. Both are about capturing the essence of a particular time. Both can drive you insane.
We wouldn't have it any other way. These are some resources that Maria and Mitzie have found helpful in both the creation and marketing of their work:
-NYFA:A national resource for awards, services, and information for artists and arts organizations.
-Society 6:A website to sell and buy artwork online
An Interview with Martin Willitts Jr.
Yesterday evening I had the privilege of interviewing Martin
Willitts Jr, who I met for dinner with his lovely wife, Linda Griggs.
Martin Willitts Jr. is an extremely prolific writer. He has written 23 poetry chapbooks, most recently “How to Find Peace” (Kattywompus Press, 2012), “Playing The Pauses In The Absence Of Stars” (Main Street Rag, 2012), and “No Special Favors” (Green Fuse Press, 2012). He has been nominated 5 Pushcart and 2 Best Of The Net awards. He has also compiled and edited Alternatives to Surrender: an anthology of writing about cancer. This collection is close to his heart, having lost his first wife to cancer. He is a visual artist, who has designed many of his own book covers such as the one displayed, using paper cut-outs. Most recently, he is exploring the “other side” of poetry- the one we fledgling poets both long for and fear: press. He has established his own press and is hosting a chapbook competition and publishing opportunities for other poets. He still finds time to delve into organic gardening with his wife Linda. I was able to glean some tips about keeping the squirrels out of our lettuce (dollar store pinwheels frighten them!)
All this, and he doesn't even drink coffee!
I asked Martin about how he manages to be so prolific while at the same producing only quality work. He told me that he writes in long spurts,that the "hard part is stopping." Linda may call and call him for supper as he churns out another 10 poems. He might write all night, or get up very early to begin. If he is interrupted, he must try and "catch the same wave" again later. He said themes naturally occur in his writing. Something sparks his interest: currently he is interested in the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh but in the past, he has pursued the voice of local feminist Mathilda Gage or nature or gemstones or an imagined village. Much like a fiction writer, he creates his books with his imagination. Willitts writes primarily "persona poems", in fact he may have accidentally created the genre as a magazine he had been published in coined the term while describing his work. His work is not confessional; he draws on his imagination of the lives of others.
Martin describes himself as a "frustrated playwright" which is initially what he wanted to study. He fell into poetry by rebelling against his first creative writing teacher, who insisted he would only read poetry, but his rebellion backfired. He thought what he was writing was satirical; his teacher thought it should be published! Martin said he began to take poetry seriously after that when he started a four year degree in Brockport. He stopped writing "anti-poems" and began to look up to his poetry-writing peers, who set high standards for publications. Obviously, Willitts has succeeded far beyond what he thought he would achieve in poetry, especially considering he initially "didn't see [himself] as a poet".
Martin said that he does not think he has a poetic voice. Each book is different. He said there is no common thread between his work, except perhaps his rhythm and sense of line breaks. Martin used to be a jazz musician and when he writes he is "rifting on a theme" or "caught up in the music of poetry". The music is clearly translated into his work. Picking up one of Martin's book, one can read it as he writes it: quickly. The poetry captivates the reader; it is "page-turner" poetry. There are characters that are vividly unique; there are ideas the reader wants to follow.
Martin Willitts Jr. lives with his wife, Linda Griggs, in Eastwood. Linda Griggs runs the Palace Poetry group which meets the first Thursday of every month at Books and Memories bookstore on James Street. He also has a poetry reading coming up at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York, Wednesday July 11 with Jill Crammond. He will read from his new chapbooks.
Martin Willitts Jr. is an extremely prolific writer. He has written 23 poetry chapbooks, most recently “How to Find Peace” (Kattywompus Press, 2012), “Playing The Pauses In The Absence Of Stars” (Main Street Rag, 2012), and “No Special Favors” (Green Fuse Press, 2012). He has been nominated 5 Pushcart and 2 Best Of The Net awards. He has also compiled and edited Alternatives to Surrender: an anthology of writing about cancer. This collection is close to his heart, having lost his first wife to cancer. He is a visual artist, who has designed many of his own book covers such as the one displayed, using paper cut-outs. Most recently, he is exploring the “other side” of poetry- the one we fledgling poets both long for and fear: press. He has established his own press and is hosting a chapbook competition and publishing opportunities for other poets. He still finds time to delve into organic gardening with his wife Linda. I was able to glean some tips about keeping the squirrels out of our lettuce (dollar store pinwheels frighten them!)
All this, and he doesn't even drink coffee!
I asked Martin about how he manages to be so prolific while at the same producing only quality work. He told me that he writes in long spurts,that the "hard part is stopping." Linda may call and call him for supper as he churns out another 10 poems. He might write all night, or get up very early to begin. If he is interrupted, he must try and "catch the same wave" again later. He said themes naturally occur in his writing. Something sparks his interest: currently he is interested in the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh but in the past, he has pursued the voice of local feminist Mathilda Gage or nature or gemstones or an imagined village. Much like a fiction writer, he creates his books with his imagination. Willitts writes primarily "persona poems", in fact he may have accidentally created the genre as a magazine he had been published in coined the term while describing his work. His work is not confessional; he draws on his imagination of the lives of others.
Martin describes himself as a "frustrated playwright" which is initially what he wanted to study. He fell into poetry by rebelling against his first creative writing teacher, who insisted he would only read poetry, but his rebellion backfired. He thought what he was writing was satirical; his teacher thought it should be published! Martin said he began to take poetry seriously after that when he started a four year degree in Brockport. He stopped writing "anti-poems" and began to look up to his poetry-writing peers, who set high standards for publications. Obviously, Willitts has succeeded far beyond what he thought he would achieve in poetry, especially considering he initially "didn't see [himself] as a poet".
Martin said that he does not think he has a poetic voice. Each book is different. He said there is no common thread between his work, except perhaps his rhythm and sense of line breaks. Martin used to be a jazz musician and when he writes he is "rifting on a theme" or "caught up in the music of poetry". The music is clearly translated into his work. Picking up one of Martin's book, one can read it as he writes it: quickly. The poetry captivates the reader; it is "page-turner" poetry. There are characters that are vividly unique; there are ideas the reader wants to follow.
Martin Willitts Jr. lives with his wife, Linda Griggs, in Eastwood. Linda Griggs runs the Palace Poetry group which meets the first Thursday of every month at Books and Memories bookstore on James Street. He also has a poetry reading coming up at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York, Wednesday July 11 with Jill Crammond. He will read from his new chapbooks.