Issue 5 Writer Spotlight | Mark Blackburn
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Mark!
MB: I'm an ex-shoeseller and politico, but now devote most of my time to writing - and the many ancillary activities which that involves. Now that I've started, I just feel driven to write - in all kinds of genres - nonfiction, short stories, children's - and maybe even a novel! If it's a nice day and I haven't got a deadline to meet you might find me pottering about down country lanes in an old car.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
MB: I think I now write more as a means unto itself, rather than to achieve any outside goals or recognition, although those are always nice to receive!
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
MB: I usually get everything non-writing out of the way by lunch, and spend the afternoons writing or doing writing-related stuff. I used to use the spare room but I found I couldn't find the right mindset there any more, so now I alternate between the dining table and a little room I've found above a shop in my home town.
C+B: What is one quote that inspires you or informs your work? Who said it and why do you admire them?
MB: "A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened." - Albert Camus. I believe that there is something deep within us which is the root of our creativity, and our pursuing it is the purpose of our work. Camus' take on life - put most simply, we do what we can - informs not just my approach to writing but to how I want to live too.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
MB: I've managed to be picked for a select writing course which I'm really excited about but can't say too much about yet as the news isn't public!
Find and support Mark here:
IG: @mdhblackburn
Website: markblackburn.co.uk
Mark Blackburn
If my work was a meal it would be: A seven-course tasting menu!
I would love to be able to share my work with: Cal Flyn, writer of Islands of Abandonment. I feel my lost airports with their weeded-over runways might appeal!
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: I think I'd be a photographer. I don't have any technical ability, but I do have an eye, and even found myself shortlisted in a national competition!
My hope for those viewing my work: One small thing they can relate to that maybe they hadn't previously considered.
Issue 5 Artist Spotlight | Fleur Thesmar
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Fleur!
FT: I am a full-time artist. In my free time, I contemplate nature, I cook, I read. I take care of the people and places around me. I was once a successful lobbyist. It is very modern and self satisfying to use one's image to promote something (a product, a politics or an idea) and even to become the product of trade: this influence involves communication tools, ideas, photographs, images. It is very common in art, too. In a way, I rebelled against this. I started to contemplate the world, just as something free and separate from me. I felt naked: no idea or photograph could act as a medium between me and the world. This is how I became a painter: representing the illusions of the world as I see them, became an existential path to freedom.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
FT: After a first phase where I felt ecstatic at the idea of being able to paint everything, I experienced a personal crisis: what is the point of painting or photographing everything? With what medium and why? I chose watercolor which has the virtue of being very low in pollution and non-VOC emitting. I aim to represent the other, the strange, impossible spaces, snippets of memory, a harmony inspired by the space that surrounds me. My work is not about duplication of things, but a new way of telling things.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
FT: I usually start in the evening with monotypes and work on digital sketches. I then paint in the morning in silence, 4-5 hours in a row.
C+B: Which creator (present day or in the past) do you most admire and why? What draws you to their work?
FT: I like David Hockney in the present for his work and his books, his motto "love life." I am enthralled by Géricault, whose life and influence have been exceptional.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
FT: I am looking forward spending the next year in Paris!
Find and support Fleur here:
IG: @fleurtdefrance
Website: fleurtdefrance.com
(Memory Box, 22’’ x 30’’, watercolor, ©Fleur Thesmar)
If my work was a meal it would be: Babette's feast
I would love to be able to share my work with: I would love to show my work to writers, or architects, and ask them why so few of them write about appearances and art. I've read that the more you are exposed to something, the more you like it: so in theory, tastes should conform to usage. But the fashion of clothing for the last 40 years seems to be an accumulation that ends up in the dumps, the "minimalism" has ended up giving birth to gigantic objects in concrete or plastic, as if the boredom and the destruction of the environment were an art form in itself. Should we be forced to accept this? Isn't it important to write about visual tastes and the appearance of artworks?
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: I make textiles, whose slow and meditative rhythm I appreciate. I also want to explore more the way I photograph things and how I use it in my work.
Who are your favorite creators to follow (emerging or experienced)? Astrid Dick @chastrida, Francois Nugues @francois.nugues, Dino Chatila @dinochatila and Jasmine Chen @jasminechenstudio
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope they take away a symphony of light and colors.
Fleur Thesmar
Issue 5 Writer Spotlight | Amy Bush
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Amy!
AB: When I'm not writing, I work as a catastrophic risk analyst, which is a fancy way of saying I work with data and models in the insurance industry. I also play basketball in a rec league on weekends. I used to be pretty intense about athletics in school, and even played rugby in college.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
AB: Since I was a kid, my goal has been to write a novel. A few years ago I completed a draft of a novel as well as some revisions. However, I wasn't satisfied with it and shelved the project. Since then I've been focusing on flash fiction to help find my voice and short stories to help me learn story structure.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
AB: I'm most inspired by music. I put my Spotify on shuffle and then let the results decide what I write. Sometimes I'm inspired by the mood of the song, other times a lyric will spark my imagination. I find the key is to write whatever pops into my head, and not judge my ideas before they're on the page.
C+B: What famous creator would you most want to show your work to and why?
AB: I would love to get feedback from Victoria Schwab. She has such a beautiful lyrical style of writing that she mixes seamlessly with the fantasy genre.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
AB: I'm looking forward to issue 5 of Clover and Bee!
Find and support Amy here:
IG: @amybushwrites
Website: amybushwrites.wordpress.com
Amy Bush
If my work was a meal it would be: I think my flash fiction is like hors d'oeuvres. They're little nuggets, and sometimes the flavor profile works well enough that you're able to create a main dish out of it, but most of the time they're just little appetizers. Poetry is more like the soup course. Not as heavy as meat and potatoes, but still satisfying.
My ideal collaboration: I would love to write a novel and have my mom, who is a professional artist, illustrate it or do the cover art.
My ideal creative retreat: My best friend and I have occasionally discussed going to Iceland on a writing retreat. Going and seeing the northern lights is on my bucket list.
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: While I've been mostly writing flash fiction and poetry lately, I do want to get back to longer form fiction so I can craft a fully fleshed out story.
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope I allow people to escape from the real world for a few moments to gather themselves and refresh their spirits.
Issue 5 Artist Spotlight | Kathy Cornwell
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Kathy!
KC: I’m a printmaker living in Northern Virginia. While some people would describe me as a self-taught artist, I consider myself an artist who has pursued a self-directed art education. I have had a number of impactful teachers and experiences that have helped me develop my art practice.
My day job is freelance writing for creatives, although I have slowly been paring this down to make more time for my art.
Nature is a huge inspiration for me and often appears in my work. I hike in the woods almost every day, and this sustains my mental health while filling my creative well.
One surprising fact about me is that I have six grandchildren—and yet I never gave birth.
I’m big into functional fitness. Ten years ago, I was weakened from breast cancer surgery and treatment. Playing with my grandkids would throw my back out. I started investing in twice-weekly strength training, and it has paid off. My back no longer hurts, and I recently showed my grandkids how to do a somersault! I want to be as strong as I can be in the second half of life so I can fully participate in art, family, and life.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
KC: It used to be that making “bad” work would derail me. I’d feel demoralized and perhaps give up for a while. What a waste of time! Now I make more work than ever, and when I make something that I’m not happy with, I know that all is not lost. Perhaps I’ll add a new layer that’ll turn things around, or maybe this piece will fulfill its destiny as a piece of collage paper. Or maybe it’s truly trash—no problem! I no longer judge my artistic potential by each piece that I create.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
KC: I find myself most productive in the studio in the mid- to late afternoon. My studio is a room in my home, which is terrifically convenient. I prefer to create daily. I enjoy listening to music while I create and I have an artmaking playlist that keeps me bopping.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
KC: While my work has been shown in gallery exhibits across the US, I will finally be in a show in my region in April. I'm thrilled to have a chance to attend the opening reception and see people respond to my artwork!
Find and support Kathy here:
IG: @kathy.cornwell.art
Website: kathycornwell.com
(Party Favor, 13’’ x 11’’, monotype, ©Kathy Cornwell)
If my work was a meal it would be: My mother-in-law raised six kids, and she was a marketing genius: when she'd make a soup using the foods she had on hand at the moment (including leftovers), she'd call it "cowboy soup." This had the kids clamoring for it! To this day, my husband and I make our own version of cowboy soup. My work is very much like this: it evolves and changes, it pulls in disparate elements and makes them work together, and it also involves creative titling!
My ideal creative retreat: It would have to be in a place where I could hike twice a day in an inspiring landscape, like Saguaro National Park or the coast of Cornwall in England. I'd hike as the sun rises and again in the afternoon. I'd spend the rest of the day in a quiet studio that allows me privacy and lots of light! In the evening, I'd be joined by my husband and our dog and we'd eat a hearty soup, look at the stars, and snuggle.
My ideal collaboration: Art Star helps people collect contemporary art. They sell original art as well as top-quality limited-edition prints, allowing people to express themselves through their art collection without breaking the bank. I’m drawn to Art Star’s focus on exceptional quality and service and I believe my work is a good fit with their roster of artists. The work Art Star carries is fun and bursting with feminine energy. I’d love my work to be collected through Art Star and positively impact the vibe of many homes and offices!
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: My work is always on paper, but I’d be excited to try working on canvas, panel, or claybord. In fact, I plan to move in this direction later this year and see what I discover!
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope that my work encourages people to stop, look closely and intently, and have a real moment in the analogue world. We spend far too much time on screens and moving too fast—and we miss a lot. My work invites us to get back in touch with ourselves and our surroundings.
Issue 5 Artist/Writer Spotlight | K.E. Downham
C+B: Tell us about yourself, K.E.!
KED: When I'm not creating I am focused on completing coursework towards a Bachelors degree in Cybersecurity. When I'm not doing that I enjoy spending time with my husband, reading, watching movies/tv shows, writing, mountain biking and hiking.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
KED: This past year I started focusing more on further exploring and developing the way I combine images, colors, texture and elements. With that, I noticed the aesthetics in my work shift. I saw more of what was in my heart and mind transpire and with that I felt a greater connection between me and my work develop.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
KED: There isn't a specific time of day when I create. It's whenever I feel inspired and/or need to get an idea, or the start of one, out. I create in my office and usually have music in the background. I like a variety of music and what I have playing is dependent on the mood I am in.
C+B: What do you hope people take away from your work?
KED: That those who see my work get inspired to look more carefully at the world around them; to see beyond the distraction of the conspicuous and discover beauty in a combination of elements and everyday life.
Find and support K.E. here:
IG: @k.d.__art
(Sweet Harmonies, 8’’ x 8’’, mixed media collage, ©K.E. Downham)
If my work was a meal it would be: A mixed salad with a side of dessert.
My ideal collaboration: Working on a community wide artistic (photographic collage, canvas or mural) project that connects people of different cultures, experiences, backgrounds and mediums that harnesses the experiences and skills of each person taking part to give meaning and creative expression to what matters most in their lives.
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: Hmm, my first thought is pottery since since my fondness for and interest in trying the medium has grown in the last year and a half.
Issue 5 Writer Spotlight | Holly Harrison Cline
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Holly!
HHC: I am a full time parent and homemaker right now, so my days are filled with the adventures of keeping house and keeping up with my one-year-old son. The experience of becoming his mother has been a huge inspiration in my writing these days.
When I’m not exploring playgrounds or libraries or the kitchen cabinets with my kiddo, I try to fit in as much reading and writing as I can. I love to read fantasy, poetry, and non-fiction (especially if it’s about food!). A lot of my reading these days happens in the form of audiobooks.
I also try to get outside as much as possible, especially to run or hike. My resolution for this year is to spend time outside with my son every day. We’ve missed a few days so far, but we’re getting out way more often than we would otherwise. Being outside has always been restorative and inspiring for me. I am happiest when I’m around trees, I think. I’m currently working on a novel that, in its earliest form, was inspired by a run down our local rail trail.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
HHC: When I first started writing, and for a long time after that, I was really focused on the outcome of the work. Any piece I didn’t finish felt like a failure, and only those I deemed “good enough” were ever shared with a wider audience.
These days, I am trying to think of writing more as an experience than a means to an end. It’s an experience that I am so grateful to enjoy both on my own, and in the community of a few dear friends. I’m hopeful that, if I continue to lean into the experience of writing, I can loosen my grip on some of the perfectionism and more fully enjoy sharing my writing, even in its early stages.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
HHC: When I have the chance, I find I do my best writing in the morning, when things are quiet and my brain and coffee are both fresh. If I can, I try to focus in blocks of two or three hours, so I have the time to inhabit the work.
I often write in silence, though I love the hum of a coffee shop. Working in a cafe or library is almost always a productive time for me. It holds just enough social pressure to keep me from wandering away from the work, without being disruptive.
These days, writing time is precious, and I fit it in whenever I can. I have a routine of writing for ten minutes in the morning, just to keep up the practice. That time isn’t for trying to move forward on any particular project, but just to run the tap, to keep the water from getting too rusty. Often, during the day, I’ll take notes here and there on my phone or in a notebook—bits of dialogue, snippets of poetry—and then pull things together during a longer stretch of quiet time in the evening.
It’s been a challenge to adapt my writing habits to this new rhythm of life. Last year, I read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert; in it she talks about falling in love with your creativity, stealing any moment you can with it, even if it’s only a few minutes. I try to hold onto that spirit.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
HHC: I am really excited to start connecting with other writers and artists. For so many people the past few years have been really isolating. My husband and I moved to a new town maybe six months before the pandemic began. And I’ll admit that, as an introvert, I didn’t really fight the isolation. If anything, I leaned into it. But I’m excited to start reaching out, to share my work and to see what others are creating. After so much time away, I’m eager to find new communities.
If my work was a meal it would be: These poems, and the larger collection they’re a part of, feel like a cup of coffee. There’s warmth, there’s comfort, there’s energy to them in the light of day. But they’re also what keeps me up at night. Sometimes it’s that jittery joy that keeps me up, the wonder and excitement. But other times, it’s that gut-burning anxiety of a mind that won’t let go and can’t rest.
On the other hand, my in-progress novel is just a straight up bowl of macaroni and cheese. It’s warmth, it’s comfort. It’s a treat for adults who need a break from everything being an adult means in our world.
I would love to be able to share my work with: It would be a particular honor to show these poems to Louise Erdrich, for two reasons. First, she authored the novel that I reference in “Remember These Things.” The book, Future Home of the Living God, made an impression on me, and I still carry images from it with me. I would love to be able to share with her how her work inspired mine.
Additionally, her memoir The Blue Jay's Dance, is one of the first books I ever read about motherhood, and it was a source of great peace and hope when I thought about the prospect of bringing a child into this world.
Some creators I am inspired by: I love this question! There are so many to choose from, but these are three of my absolute favorites these days--
1. Brit (@britchida) is an incredible abstract artist. I especially love their abstract diagrams, and the poetic check-ins they share with their digital community.
2. J.S. Park (@jspark3000) writes out of his experience as a hospital chaplain. I am struck by the beauty, compassion, and honesty he brings to raw and difficult topics.
3. Kelly Harrison (@kellyharrisonarts) is a fused glass and mixed media artist. I love the curiosity and joy she brings to her art. (She’s also my mom, which means I’ve gotten to enjoy a front row seat to watch her explore and create her artistic identity. Her courage in sharing her own work and finding a supportive artistic community has encouraged me to put myself and my work out there as well.)
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: If I couldn’t write, I think painting is the medium I would turn to. I’ve painted on and off over the years, in all sorts of different forms: theatrical scenery, greeting cards, attempts to keep up with Bob Ross on a nature scene. Painting to music, especially, has felt like a freeing experience.
While I’ve enjoyed all of my various forays into painting, I’ve never explored it enough to feel like I could tell a story with the medium. I’ve seen some phenomenal artists who can, though, and it’s something I would love to learn more about.
My hope for those viewing my work: When these poems are read, I hope that someone feels that strong resonance of 'Yes. I have felt that. I have been there. I didn’t have the words before, but here they are.' It’s an experience I’ve had as a reader so many times; it feels like a gift to find words for an experience that felt so isolating or unspeakable.
I also hope that these words do offer a little bit of hope.
Issue 5 Artist Spotlight | Gabriella Giaconia
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Gabriella!
GG: I am an elementary school art teacher in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I love going to art galleries and museums around NYC, going for walks by the water, painting and making my own art, spending time with family and friends, trying new restaurants, reading, going to the beach.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
GG: I've become much more consistent in making work—the book, "The Artist's Way" helped me realize so much about being an artist and the importance of making art and looking at art regularly.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
GG: I recently turned my bedroom into an art studio, so now I am able to have a designated space to create in my small Brooklyn apartment. During the school year, I make art on nights and weekends, but this summer I will have lots more time, and I am so excited for that.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
GG: I'm grateful that I've been able to access the creativity in myself, and that I will be able to act on it forever. Creativity is innate in everyone, but programming, etc. has made it hard for most people to recognize that.
Find and support Gabriella here:
IG: @gabbygiaconia
Website: etsy.com/shop/BelleandBumble
(Untitled, 24’’ x 30’’, mixed media, ©Gabriella Giaconia)
If my work was a meal it would be: I think anything that is a process and is intentional—maybe a pasta dish from start to finish, from making the pasta homemade to selecting tomatoes for the sauce. An intentional, thoughtful meal.
I would love to be able to share my work with: Julia Cameron because her books and ideals have had a profound impact on my life.
Some creators I am inspired by: Anna Valdez @missannavaldez, @gethappymedium, Leah Kirsch @leahkirsch, Haley Bowen @haleybowenart
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: I would love to try graffiti art or murals—I have never really worked on a large scale like that, and find it really interesting and beautiful. I think it would be a fun challenge.
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope my work makes people curious, introspective, and inspired about their own creativity. Maybe the colors and layers and shapes remind them of something from their own life that makes them want to explore.
Issue 5 Artist Spotlight | Toby Gordon
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Toby!
TG: I was an acquisitions editor in educational publishing for thirty years, but always painted in my free time. I retired several years ago and was thrilled then to start painting full-time. Living on the southern coast of Maine, I take daily walks and am continually inspired and influenced by the surrounding landscape—the marshes, the rocky coast, the vegetation, high and low tides, the way the sun hits water in the early morning versus the late afternoon. The shifting light and colors, no matter the season, affect what I paint, whether I’m focusing on landscapes, still lifes, or nonrepresentational work. The natural world is always at play in what I see, feel, and paint.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
TG: When I first started painting, I felt there were “right and wrong” ways of doing things and I was cautious in my practice. Years later, I feel there’s no need to be precious about any of this. Paint, paint some more, and just keep at it. If it doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to obliterate a work and start over. Those paintings often end up being my best.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
TG: I start painting immediately after I walk. I often begin with small 8x8 gouache and watercolor pieces—what I’ve come to consider my morning mediations—before I dig into larger oils. These works on paper are often quick, playful, and serve as a way of focusing my attention. There is no plan for them, just a beginning mark—they then develop in a kind of free-associative way. Over time, I’ve deepened my interest in and relationship with these water-based pieces and now take them as seriously as my oil paintings.
C+B: What famous creator would you most want to show your work to and why?
TG: I think painting is often like poetry—a brief reflection of an internal state, a moment in time revealing something previously unknown. For this reason, I’d like to share my work with Jane Hirshfield, a poet of great wisdom and wonder.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
TG: After having spent the winter in Asheville, NC, visiting my adorable 18-month-old granddaughter (and her parents!), I am looking forward to getting back to my Maine studio and to plein air painting this spring.
Find and support Toby here:
IG: @trg210
Website: tobygordonart.com
(Approaching October, 8’’ x 8’’, watercolor, ©Toby Gordon)
My ideal creative retreat: I would relocate to a beautiful new place for a few weeks, spend time getting to know it, and paint away. I’d never have to worry about meals as they would magically appear and all menial tasks would magically disappear!
Some of my favorite creators to follow: Sarah Faragher @sarah_faragher_painter, Rick Fox @rickfoxpaintings, Chris Liberti @chris_liberti_, Carole Rabe @carole.rabe.painting
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: I would work with textiles, weaving and sewing. I often turn to fabric artists to be inspired by their stunning designs and palettes. There’s a vibrancy to textiles that I find energizing and powerful.
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope my nonrepresentational work will create a feeling of energy and excitement and my abstract landscapes will evoke a strong sense of place, whether real or imagined.
Toby Gordon
Issue 5 Writer Spotlight | Dagne Forrest
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Dagne!
DF: For the past twenty years I've worked in website development and marketing with my husband. I feel so fortunate to be home-based, as it allowed us to be much more available to our children when they were young, and it's work that engages us with other small business owners and creatives where we live.
It was only after my kids were mostly grown that I returned to writing for myself, to create, and for me it has come at the right time. It's very much an activity that I fit in "here and there," but I have the confidence to do it that way and don't stress when I don't have time to write. My list of ideas to explore simply increases when I have to take short breaks.
I've also recently joined a much loved literary journal (Painted Bride Quarterly) as an editor and a member of its podcast team, and am so grateful for the opportunities this affords. It's an amazing team to be a part of, and it gives me a very different perspective on the writing and editing process that I wouldn't otherwise have.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
DF: I think that trusting myself has been huge. I used to think I needed lots of well defined, protected time (and space) for writing, but I don't. It's always lovely to get spells where I can just commit fully to writing, revising, editing, or whatever stage I may be at in a piece, but realizing that most of the process of creating can happen dynamically, alongside my life, has been revelatory.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
DF: If I wake up with an idea, that's the very best time to get it down, which I think is true for many writers, but it's often very cursory at that stage. I have to sit with it for some time, allowing it to bubble up on my daily walks or as I'm engaged in other activities.
In terms of the actual writing process it's frankly ad hoc, and I don't commit to a routine, which is pretty reflective of my life as a whole. If I found I wasn't writing anything as a result, I'd address that, but I'm happy with my output and the fact that I'll have small, intense bursts followed by very quiet or fallow periods.
I don't write in the same place all of the time. I use a notebook a lot, make notes on my phone, and for some pieces I move to the computer immediately, because I just need to. I trust my instincts and am always experimenting. I have done one writing retreat so far, and I loved it, but the big a-ha in life for me was to discover that I can write anywhere under most circumstances, and that was so liberating. If I could have discovered that when my kids were little...but who knows. I think I loved just fully living in those years, the good and the tough, and I read voraciously with my kids as well as for myself.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
DF: After a couple of false starts, I think I finally have an idea for a chapbook that makes sense for me, and I'm having fun pulling it together and creating pieces that will be in conversation with and yet very distinct from each other.
I'm also trying to arrange to meet up with my Painted Bride Quarterly colleagues. I'm based in Canada, while they are in the US and the UAE, and up until now I've only worked with them remotely, which I think is not uncommon for many people these days.
Find and support Dagne here:
Website: DagneForrest.com
Dagne Forrest
My ideal creative retreat would be: A few dedicated days on my own in a small, quiet place with good light, with access to the pleasures of town (good food, outdoor music, interesting book stores), and amazing walking, and couple of great online workshops lined up. That's something I was able to do for the first time in 2022 and it was perfect for me. One of the workshops was with Gabrielle Calvocoressi, whose work I adore, and I still pinch myself that I had the chance to take part in one of their workshops.
My ideal collaboration would be: I would love to pair poems with the work of a visual artist in a collaborative chapbook. Not just a cover, but visual art throughout, with the words and the visuals in conversation with each other.
I would love to be able to share my work with: I've honestly never thought about that until now. I suppose that it would be pretty neat to know that the incredible Polish poet Wisława Symborska could read some of my poetry that's concerned with physics and the existence of the universe, though it will never happen on this earthly plane. I return again and again to "Pi" and "Miracle Mart" by Symborska.
I mostly think of ordinary readers, the poets and non-poets alike. I have an older stepdaughter who has an impressive career and cultural life in London, England, and when she tells me that she sometimes shares my work with friends, it really moves me.
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: I'd probably just return to the kitchen, where I spent so much time when my kids were small, baking and creating good things to eat, and listening to the work of other poets and writers, as well as a lot of music! As it is, I'm often torn about creating anything new when there is so much in the world I have no hope of ever experiencing as we are now so rich in art in so many genres by so many different voices.
My hope for those viewing my work: A sense of slow (but not too slow) consideration.
Issue 5 Artist Spotlight | our thomas
C+B: Tell us about yourself, our thomas!
ot: When not creating, I’m a non-profit administrator with a focus on fundraising and communications. In addition to being a collage artist, I’m also a haiku poet, and I list among my inspirations the sea, Japanese gardens, birds, and forests.
C+B: How has your relationship with your work changed since you first started creating?
ot: When I first tried making collages I was very much driven by two unfortunate tendencies: comparing my art to the works of other artists and starting with a specific idea of what I wanted the final piece to look like. Those can be soul- and art-killing habits. I’ve really embraced the idea of process and also of intuitive making, and that perspective is just much wider, more beautiful, and deeper. Even my “failures” are part of a longer, more resonant arc now, and that feels authentic and meaningful to me.
C+B: Share some details about your process for creating.
ot: Creating collage is very much an intuitive, organic process for me, and so I tend to work best in shorter bursts, 45 to 75 minutes at a time. I find that if I push beyond that, I start thinking rather than feeling my way forward. One advantage of shorter bursts is that I often return to pieces still in progress, and in the interim they feel like they’ve taken on new perspectives and possibilities. That’s one reason I like to work on several pieces simultaneously.
I tend to make a little offering to the universe before I start working – expressing gratitude for the time and ability to engage in something so powerful and intimate as art making. While I’m working, there’s definitely an “in the studio” mix that I listen to, an eclectic (and continually growing) playlist that jumps across genres, moods, and time periods; the Velvet Underground might be followed by a Handel Oratorio and then Minor Threat followed by Charles Mingus.
C+B: What is something exciting that you're looking forward to in your life or creative life?
ot: As both a haiku poet and collage artist, I’m working toward bringing both mediums in conversation with each other. I tend to treat them and engage in them separately; one or the other, never both together. I’m working on a project right now that applies cut and paste techniques to haiku; I’m very excited by it, though I worry the audience for such an approach might be pretty small. Still, it’s pushing me beyond my comfort zone, and that makes it worth it even if it doesn’t get shared with the world.
Find and support our thomas here:
IG: @our.thomas
Website: ourthomasart.com
(The Material Has Been Arranged, 6.75’’ x 9.75’’, paper collage, ©our thomas)
My ideal collaboration: I think good collaboration ideally allows each creator to remain quintessentially themselves, while also pushing each to grow what’s possible. A lot of the collaboration I’ve seen in collage is what one might label “call and response.” One creator starts the piece and hands it off to the other to further develop or finish and so on and so forth. That play of both freedom and constraint – and of discovering how one’s work might spark another artist – can be powerful. I haven’t done much of it, but I’m definitely open to exploring the possibilities.
A creator I admire: I don’t think one can work in collage without referencing in some way Joseph Cornell. His ability to employ common objects and images to create otherworldly mystery and narrative is so powerful and alluring. Another of my collage inspirations, the reason I began to explore collage, is Nick Bantock, the creator of the Griffin and Sabine books, where images adorn letters and postcards to tell an evolving and mysterious story. Again, it’s that ability to signal some sort of deeper, more resonant world that exists beneath the surface of the ordinary that I find so compelling. I hope my best collage works begin to hint at that other world that exists inside me and inside those who experience my collage.
If I didn’t work in my current medium, I would like to try: Well, I do try my hand occasionally at watercolor, and so that might be a starting point for further exploration if collage wasn’t possible, and I’ve always been intrigued by oil painting – maybe I could become a fine tonalist painter.
My hope for those viewing my work: I hope in looking at my work, viewers feel in some way stirred by it – made curious, surprised, excited, intrigued, or inspired – reminded in some small way of the deeper world that exists below the surface of our everyday lives. Collage feels like a fantastic medium to accomplish this sleight of hand.