Have you ever felt like your heart was divided? Like there existed inside you two parts of the same heart diametrically opposed to one another? It’s problematic. Let me tell you a story, Becky. It’s one you’ve heard before, but I’ve discovered a surprise ending. This year has been tough. Living through a pandemic is tough. Homeschooling kids is tough! Keeping a fine art career afloat is exeedingly tough! Turns out people don’t really visit art galleries, pay for workshops, or purhcase a lot of prints during a pandemic. But while you might wonder if this is me giving up, it’s not.

It’s been a crazy couple of months around here. As it turns out, Becky, it’s incredibly hard to work from home while the kids are not in school. I must admit that when the “shelter in place” order came, I didn’t think much would change for us, because The Weatherman has been working from home for years now.  It was more like summer just came early.  However, all these prior plans and commitments I’d intended to wrap up before the kids came home. I must confess, Becky, that I’ve been dealing with a lot of anger. But then I had another dream, and it came in two parts….

Dear Becky,

Last night I had a dream that I was walking down an old dock toward a beautiful mountain lake.  There was a vehicle at the far end of the dock and the weight of it was pushing the dock down into the water.  Knowing I couldn’t escape what was coming next, I surrendered to the sinking without fear of the deep.

Dear Becky, I was thinking this morning how enamored with unicorns you use to be.  Do you remember those purple unicorn sheets you had as a kid? I remember how you used to stare at those unicorns and let your mind wander to magical places as you drifted off to sleep.  I wonder now what adventures you must have been on.  When did you stop looking for unicorns, Becky?

I know getting the kids out the door can feel like a war zone with the Greatest Showman soundtrack in the background, but you’re doing great! Anyhow, as I was working this week, I gave myself permission to rework a piece I’d already completed. Here’s the really funny part: there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about that previous image! However, I believe this sort of repetition is vital to the training of the mind as well as the skill and cultivation of greater creativity. For in each session, you train yourself to trust and stretch your creative instincts, and by doing so you stamp new pathways to the secret place. This my thin space, Becky...

Dear Becky, As an artist in the modern world, it can be extremely difficult to source a regular paycheck because art is a luxury that many cannot afford.   Finding liquidity for art in the marketplace has been a challenge since the decline in patronage, but what if you could circumvent that altogether?

Dear Becky, When I saw you, it looked like you where having a rough go this morning. Parenthood can make a girl feel like a modern day Nehemiah, amirite?!  At any rate, you looked a little ragged and I had a few things I was too scared to say to you in the moment. I thought maybe if I wrote them out, perhaps I’d have more courage to send it. So here goes…