Issue 9 Writer Spotlight | Saroj Kunnakkat
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Saroj!
SK: I am a neurologist who focuses on epilepsy. Writing (and visual art) have been a part of my life since early childhood. They are and have always been ways to think in ways that are less concrete. So much of what I learned through these media have been incorporated into how I approach my career as a physician.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
SK: Motherhood at its start was a period of profound doubt. In a way, I've come to embrace the doubt as part of the journey, and taking stock in each moment, what goes well, what makes my child feel safe and secure.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
SK: Success is really when whatever ideas I have percolating somehow make it out into the world as something tangible.
C+B: What do you think makes a creator or their work impactful?
SK: When art stirs up emotions and forces us to think, this is when it has the greatest impact.
Find and support Saroj here:
IG: @sarahjococonut
Me in 3 words: Quirky, surprising, and stubborn. I think I am a bit of an oddball, my tastes are varied and usually unexpected (like the fact that I am a fan of both metal and South Indian classical music styles). I wouldn't have become a physician if I wasn't so stubborn, so set on this path despite the road that lay before me all those years ago.
My favorite creator of all time: Atul Gawande, as a physician and author he embodies so much of what I hope to emulate in both spheres.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: Watercolor, because of how gentle and subtle it can be. Really the sheer reason I haven't tried it is because I have a toddler running around.
Issue 9 Artist Spotlight | Sara Bailey
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Sara!
SB: I'm a rising senior at Converse University. I got into art because I've always loved storytelling, and I try to bring that into all of my work. Outside of art, I'm a big music nerd and I enjoy going on walks with my girlfriend.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
SB: I dealt with a lot of doubts when trying to decide if I should go into the arts professionally. I spent a long time considering backup plans and more "careful" options, but I ultimately felt like I owed it to myself to see this through. Art has always been my identity, and it would be a shame to back down now.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
SB: In my first year of college, I won best in show at our student juried exhibition with a painting I did over the summer before actually attending. I chose my school because of so many of the students were incredible artists who I looked up to as a high schooler, so for my work to be considered among theirs was really mind-blowing.
Find and support Sara here:
IG: @sarabailey.art
(In The Moments, oil, 18 x 24, ©Sara Bailey)
Me in 3 words: Dedicated, scatterbrained, nostalgic. I love art and I love putting my all into it. However, I have a tendency to jump from project to project or to change the course of a piece halfway through because I had a better idea. There have been many times where I restarted a series of work halfway to the deadline because I had a different vision I wanted to follow. Additionally, most of my work focuses on the past. I think a lot about who I was when trying to shape my future.
My favorite artist of all time: My favorite artist of all time is Dana Terrace, who is an animator and showrunner. She's gone through so much in her career and has faced so many obstacles, but she always gets right back up and creates such killer artwork. When I feel low, she inspires me to persevere and work harder.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: I grew up very inspired by fashion, so I think textile art would be fun to explore. With my art however, I like to be spontaneous and free, so I struggle with mediums that require a lot of forethought.
Issue 9 Writer Spotlight | Huma Farid
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Huma!
HF: I am an obstetrician gynecologist both by day and by night (babies have their own timelines) and have always loved writing since I was a kid.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
HF: I have doubted myself every time I have written something. Is this piece good enough? Will this resonate with others?
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
HF: Publication of a piece is of course the ultimate validation and mark of success, but what is even more important is to look at your own work and recognize the beauty and truth of that, even if no one else does.
C+B: What do you think makes a creator or their work impactful?
HF: What makes an artist impactful is when our values align with our art.
Me in 3 words: Motivated; curious; bibliophile. The one constant in my life is my motivation to continually grow and challenge myself. Being curious about others' experiences and thoughts is what makes us human and relatable. I love the written word in general (I was the kid who would read the cereal box at breakfast because my mom forbade me from reading at the kitchen table) and books in particular.
My favorite creator of all time: Cliched answer, but I love Jane Austen. I read Pride and Prejudice at 14 and still own that copy of the book nearly 30 years later. She captured the flaws in her society so precisely and with such vivid description that I felt like I could understand 19th century England. Despite the constraints of societal norms at that time, she was a feminist who subtly pushed back on expectations for women. From her, I have learned to write even when things feel hard.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: Painting! I always love looking at other people's artwork and find it (theoretically) relaxing to paint. I am a terrible artist but feel like abstract painting could be better for someone like me who has no artistic talent.
Issue 9 Artist Spotlight | Anna Ruby Whitmire
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Anna!
ARW: I have many passions and interests, but the two things that have always stuck out to me are Art and Horses. The two have always intersected to some degree, as horses are my favorite thing to draw and paint, but only recently have I found a way to integrate them fully into a professional body of work. In addition to making art about horses, I love riding and working with them too. I find the practice of horsemanship deeply fulfilling and important to my artistic process. Outside of art and riding, I’m the type of person who is always busy doing something creative. I love to read, write, travel, and spend time outdoors.
2025 is a very special year because I am transitioning from an undergraduate student to a graduate student! I have just graduated from Converse University with my Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education. This Fall, I will be attending Florida Atlantic University to pursue an MFA in Visual Art with a concentration in Painting.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
ARW: During my junior year of college, I made the decision to try and include horses in my assigned artwork for a drawing class. I told my professor about my desired trajectory of becoming an artist that “does horses.” She was supportive of it, but as I was first creating the work, I realized that being an equine artist was going to be a challenge. I wanted to create “horse art” that was not kitschy or cliche, and was relatable to everyone, not just horse lovers. I had to develop a concept and a visual language that was more than just “I like horses. look at this majestic horse.” Plenty of doubt, failed work, and a couple of embarrassing critiques later, I was unsure if I should continue. To overcome this hurdle, I chose to look to my other interests beyond horses: architecture, nature, and dreamlike landscapes. Once I brought all of these things together, with a little help from my professors and classmates, everything just clicked!
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
ARW: As a result of that big switch in trajectory, I developed a body of work which includes the art being featured in Clover + Bee. I always knew that art would be a lifetime practice for me, but at the beginning of that journey, I did not believe that I had much of a place in the professional art world. However, as I was making the work during my senior year, everything started to fall into place. My professors and classmates were loving the work, so I proposed for a solo show through my university, and was accepted. I named the show “Hoofstep Odyssey” to represent the journey one takes to regain awareness and connection in a chaotic world, depicted through horses in otherworldly landscapes. I applied to many exhibitions and other opportunities, just to see what would happen, with surprisingly positive results. Two of my paintings were accepted to my university’s juried show, and one received best in show. I then used the work to apply to Graduate school, fully aware of the possibility of rejection. Two of the three schools I applied to rejected me, but one accepted. After my show was over, I chose to commit to Florida Atlantic University, continuing this fulfilling and exciting new journey! Creating Hoofstep Odyssey was so impactful because it allowed me to achieve things I never thought I could, and has taken my passion for art to new heights.
Find and support Anna here:
IG: @horseandherondesign
Website: horseandherondesign.weebly.com
(The Torchbearer, oil and acrylic on canvas, 10” x 10” ©Anna Ruby Whitmire)
Me in 3 words: I am an authentic, fanciful hippophile! I value authenticity because being my most genuine self in everything I do is essential not only to my art, but to my whole life. I am fanciful because of my active imagination, romantic view of the world, and fascination with dreamscapes and worlds beyond our own. And finally, a hippophile is simply a lover of horses!
My favorite artist of all time: My favorite artist right now is Walton Ford. I love how his animal paintings don’t just glorify the animals, but criticize how people have interacted with them. They are both beautiful and impactful. This taught me that it is possible to develop such a concept within my own work. I also find ample inspiration in the surrealism movement, from artists like MC Escher and Leonora Carrington.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: I have wanted to try large-scale mural painting for a while now. This desire stems from my love for painting, which grew tremendously throughout my time in college, and how much fun I had creating large-scale paintings. Why not try doing something spectacularly huge, and seeing what happens? The only thing holding me back is a lack of materials and space to paint. Once I can locate the right materials, and an unsuspecting wall, I’ll be unstoppable!
Anna Ruby Whitmire
Issue 9 Writer Spotlight | Jeffery Allen Tobin
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Jeffery!
JAT: By day, I work as a political scientist and professional researcher, focusing on issues such as U.S. foreign policy, democracy, national security, and migration. I spend a good deal of my time analyzing systems of power, reading field reports, and trying to make sense of complex, often contradictory realities.
In my spare time, I read a lot. I dig both fiction and non-fiction. I often lean toward classic literature—Hardy, Eliot, and the Brontës are among my favorites—and I listen to a wide range of music, especially jazz, classical, and Americana. I find that poetry and fiction speak where data and policy can’t: they reach the ineffable corners of experience.
I became a writer because I needed a language that could hold more than argument. I’ve been writing for more than thirty years, across genres—poetry, fiction, essays—not to escape my professional life, but to complement it. Stories and poems let me explore the same themes I study—loss, power, ambiguity, justice—but from the inside out. My background straddles two disciplines: the analytical and the lyrical. I try to make them speak to one another.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
JAT: I doubted myself most after taking a break from my doctoral work. What was supposed to be a short pause to regroup turned into a longer stretch of silence, and in that silence, the old doubts crept in—was I still cut out for this kind of thinking, this kind of writing? Had the moment passed?
What got me through wasn’t some flash of inspiration—it was a return to rhythm. I started walking again, reading poetry again, writing sentences with no purpose other than to hear the cadence click into place. Slowly, the gears turned. I remembered that doubt is part of the process, not proof you’ve failed. You don’t overcome it by waiting to feel brave. You just keep going, one page at a time.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
JAT: Success is a slippery concept. I’ve felt it exactly three times: once when I finished a poem and didn’t hate it the next morning, once when an editor I admired said yes instead of ghosting me, and once when my dog fell asleep while I read him a draft—which I took as high praise.
But honestly, the moment that sticks with me most wasn’t about publication or praise. It was during a late-night writing session when everything finally clicked—the rhythm, the tone, the strange emotional logic of the piece. I sat back, blinked at the screen, and thought, "Well, that didn’t suck." For me, that felt like winning the Pulitzer. Which is probably why I’ll never win one.
C+B: What do you think makes a creator or their work impactful?
JAT: I think impact happens when an artist tells the truth in a way that feels both familiar and completely unexpected. Not the truth in some grand, definitive way—but a truth that rings out like a tuning fork in your chest. Art becomes impactful when it names something you didn’t know needed naming, or when it holds up a mirror you weren’t quite ready to look into.
It doesn’t have to be loud, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. But it has to be honest—emotionally, structurally, spiritually. The best work sneaks up on you. It lingers. It rewires something. And then it quietly dares you to make something that might do the same.
Find and support Jeffery here:
IG: @jefftobin11
Website: jefferyatobin.com
Substack: jefftobin11.substack.com
Jeffery Allen Tobin
Me in 3 words: Curious. Disciplined. Restless. Curious, because I’ve never outgrown the urge to ask why things are the way they are—and why they shouldn’t be otherwise. Disciplined, because both writing and research demand persistence, even (and especially) when the path forward isn’t clear. Restless, because I’m always chasing the next question, the next sentence, the next way to tell the truth.
My favorite creator of all time: Probably Tom Waits. Or maybe Edward Hopper. One of them painted loneliness in oil, the other growled it into a microphone—and somehow, both taught me more about storytelling than most books ever did.
Waits showed me that beauty doesn’t have to wear clean clothes. His songs stagger and mutter and bleed, and yet there’s poetry in every line. He made me realize that voice matters more than polish, and that strangeness—when it’s honest—is a gift, not a flaw.
Hopper, meanwhile, mastered the unsaid. His scenes feel like the moment just before someone speaks, or just after they’ve left. I write toward that space now—the charged quiet, the unresolved tension. From both of them, I learned that restraint can say as much as revelation, and that sometimes, the most powerful art is the kind that just . . . waits.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: Pottery, without question. There’s something deeply appealing about shaping something with your hands—something that isn’t words or ideas or abstract arguments. Just clay, pressure, and patience. It feels primal and grounded, the opposite of staring at a blinking cursor and hoping for a decent sentence.
What’s stopping me? Honestly, time. Also the mild suspicion that I’d make lopsided mugs no one wants and accidentally invent a new form of ashtray. But maybe that’s part of the appeal—it doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be made. One day, I’ll sign up for a class and let the mud do the talking.
Issue 9 Artist Spotlight | Chris Potts
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Chris!
CP: Currently I'm an IT Systems Engineer during the day for the Washington D.C. transit authority! I help all of our citizens get around D.C. with our intelligent transit systems.
In my spare time I of COURSE love painting. Recently I've been into tattooing, and learning how to build my own miniature studio in my condo.
My background is a bit eclectic. I grew up being poked and prodded for years in scientific experiments for neurodivergent medicinal testing groups. I struggled with being an "outcast" (I prefer hermit😆) since I was very young. It's been incredibly hard for me to talk about that stuff because of how traumatic and painful it was being hooked up to machines and having needles shoved into my arm every week, being intensely scrutinized, tested, and told I had a genius level IQ of 147 at the age of 10. I couldn't handle that very well. I made few friends because I just think so differently it put the other kids off. This all built up over years, so I turned to drinking when I got into college. Drinking freed me from social pain, but shackled me to another.
By some miracle, and with more than a few social, emotional (and physical) scars from crippling addiction, I graduated college. Being an atypical thinker, and a bit of an outcast, I left college with very few friends. For a long, lonely time, I drank and suppressed my feelings of shame, guilt, and pain.
Then, one of my very closest friends died of a DUI related car crash, and one month later another of my closest friends (both of whom lived with me) died of an overdose.
To say I was obliterated was a grave understatement. I never made many friends, and the friends I have truly understand and know me. We are loyal and powerful with each other, and losing them hurt more than I could describe.
So, desperate and mortified with a side of PTSD I started painting.
And I SUCKED!
I just kept on being really really bad, and painting. I read and watched and listened and learned about painting from every source, any source!
I just kept trying and trying, practicing every day. Then, one day a really awesome couple invited me to join in on their magazine Clover & Bee!
I am so grateful for the opportunity to introduce myself to you all🤘🏼
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
CP: I doubt myself every time I pick up my paintbrush. There's just simply no way around self doubt for me! I have had to learn that painting, and art for me in general is an exercise in religion and prayer. I am communicating with my inner self, and my "God" if you will when I make art. I'm not religious, but deeply spiritual, and my prayer is my artwork.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
CP: I just started painting in 2020, and I'm fortunate enough to have been invited to participate in multiple local or regional art shows every year after I began. It just keeps getting more and more successful! It's incredibly impactful for me because my sobriety informs my art, and my art informs my spirit. I am feeling fulfilled on a level I never dreamed of as a kid just doodling comics on his lecture notes.
Find and support Chris here:
IG: @chrispottsart
Website: https://www.chrispotts.com
(Millennial Life, acrylic, 36 x 48, ©Chris Potts)
Me in 3 words: Curious, sensitive, strong; I am incredibly inquisitive by nature, and due to my neurodivergence my emotions, senses, and perception are extremely heightened. Emotions play across my mind and heart like the aurora borealis.
My favorite artist of all time: One of my favorites is Hilma Af Klint. She's an insanely talented spiritual painter. Some methods she used are so powerfully resonant with me. I feel she was able to communicate with her inner spirit and really bring out some universal archetypal knowledge with her work. Absolutely mesmerizing.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: So far I've tried a lot of different painting mediums, but tattooing is drawing me in very strongly. It's a way of canvas painting that is innately impermanent. We do not usually save the canvas of a person. That impermanence reminds me of our mortality and drives the messages I'm trying to spread.
Issue 9 Writer Spotlight | Mark Blackburn
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Mark!
MB: I was a shoe-seller and property expert in London until I escaped to the countryside and started writing. When I'm not writing, I'm likely to be driving around in old cars and hoping they don't break down!
I used to write before the world of work got in the way; I started evening classes in creative writing towards the end of my professional career and soon began having stories published. Now I'm writing more or less full-time and loving it!
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
MB: When did I ever not doubt myself? I think the change came for the better when I started writing and became the person I wanted to be rather than the person (Ifelt?) others wanted me to be. The more you are your 'authentic' self (sorry for that word!) the easier it becomes to prosper, in the widest sense.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
MB: When I was runner-up in the Interact Ruth Rendell Short Story Prize. I attended the ceremony and my story was read by a professional actor. The judge, Dame Margaret Drabble, told me personally how much she related to and loved my story. I did feel that day that if Dame Margaret loves my writing, what else do I have to prove!
C+B: What do you think makes a creator or their work impactful?
MB: Relatability. When they can somehow identify and communicate some aspect of the human condition and render a potentially cathartic or inspiring take on it.
Find and support Mark here:
IG: @mdhblackburn
Website: mark-blackburn-writer.sumupstore.com
Me in 3 words: Older, liberal, resilient - I started writing seriously in my 50s and I'm getting over prostate cancer!
My favorite creator of all time: David Bowie, not just for his creative content but for the person he was. Even he said that as you grow older you become the person you wanted to be, and that does encourage and inspire me.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: I would like to engage with screenwriting or some form of writing for performance. But my current writing efforts use nearly all my time and energy.
Issue 9 Artist Spotlight | Terri Yacovelli
C+B: Tell us about yourself, Terri!
TY: I am a full-time artist specializing in encaustic—hot wax painting. Before dedicating myself fully to my practice, I spent many years as a studio art teacher and adjunct professor of art. Teaching a diverse range of students, from young people to adults at the college level, has reinforced my core belief that art is a universal language. We are inherently creative beings, yet we are hesitant to fully express ourselves. I am passionate about guiding others to use their creativity as a means to discover and amplify their voice and improve their well being.
C+B: Describe a time when you doubted yourself. Explain the scenario and how you were able to work through it.
TY: When I was around thirty, I lost quite a few people in my life within a few years of each other, some tragically. It really affected me; I had sort of an existential crisis. At that time I was painting realistic portraits in oil paint. Suddenly I lost the desire to paint anything, especially images of people. I thought, What's the point? Eventually, to distract myself from my doubts and grief, I decided not to 'make anything", just get out watercolors and mix colors and listen to music. I just pushed paint around. My art really helped to calm me during a most difficult time.
The freedom of playing with materials and working intuitively led to experimenting with mixed media to create colorful abstracts works. Themes of transition and symbols such as passages and portals emerged. The series was not a conscious decision; the work evolved on its own. Focusing on mark-making and color exploration gave me space to process things; it was very healing. I have recently been revisiting this theme with my encaustic work, so things have come full circle.
C+B: Describe a time when you felt successful in your creative pursuits. Explain the scenario and what was so impactful for you.
TY: There was an instance where I had finishing a rather large encaustic painting, and while I felt it was good, it lacked something. Other artist friends told me not to touch it, that it was a good piece and it was finished. It continued to bother me and I ended up reworking it. I took my blowtorch and went at it, taking away areas and then adding more layers on top of the entire surface. This gave the piece an ephemeral, atmospheric quality. Although altering something already complete was uncertain, the process brought new life to the work. Later that year , that painting won an award in a juried exhibition. This experience reminded me to embrace risk and trust my instincts as a creator.
Find and support Terri here:
IG: @tyacovelli
Website: terriyacovelli.com
Terri Yacovelli
(Navigating the Blue, 24x24, encaustic, ©Terri Yacovelli)
Me in 3 words: Creative, Spiritual, Silly. Creative because so much of my time is spent making things, not only physical artwork, but decorating, gardening and cooking.
Spiritual: My work is rooted in a deep sense of connection and purpose, reflecting my belief that we are guided by our inner knowing.
Silly: I embrace playfulness and believe we can find humor in most things.
My favorite artist of all time: That's a tough question! I have many artists I admire, but if I have to choose it would be the American artist Fairfield Porter (1907-1975). He was a painter and an art critic, and his work is elegantly simple but technically complex at the same time. His paintings are representational, they show his life through domestic scenes, portraits and landscapes. Each piece has a beautiful sense of color and gestural abstraction. He was very interested in the physical properties of paint and the joy of painting, sometimes allowing his work to be slightly 'unfinished' in areas. It's a good way to emphasize the materials and the artist's experience of the act of creating. I love that, and believe that the process is just as important as the end product.
A medium I’ve never tried but want to: When I was an educator, I was responsible to learn many mediums so that I could then teach them, so I have experience with many fine art materials. I have to say that working with encaustic is satisfying because it has endless possibilities. Encaustic paint can be polished to a high gloss, carved, scraped, layered, dipped, cast, modeled, textured, and combined with oil paints. Many artists use encaustic combined with printmaking, cloth, collage, and to create sculpture. I am open to new mediums, but this one will keep me busy for a very long time. There is always a new technique for me to explore with wax.