Re-emergence

Medicine Wheel.  (2013)

In six years of editing PHOTO/arts Magazine I have never missed more than a week or two between posts. This is the first post of 2013, so it has been almost four months since I have written anything about art or photography. My mother passed away three weeks ago after a courageous battle with brain cancer. She started significantly declining just after New Year's day and died very peacefully at home on February 22nd.

One of the things we most shared in common was a love of art, and I consider my mother to be my most significant artistic mentor. She was a daily reader of this magazine and it stings to know this is the first post that she will not read and discuss with me. We shared countless hours talking about favorite photographers and exhibits. Her influence will always be with me.

Something that helped me get through the roughest stages of her illness was to spend time painting in my studio. I found it almost impossible to write about art, but the process of working with paints was very relaxing and cathartic. The image above is "Medicine Wheel", and will become a mixed media piece involving oil paint and metal sculpture. I have found it to be a very healing source of medicine indeed.

I am slowly emerging back into the world of online arts. I have lots of catching up to do. The Self Contained exhibit book is close to completion, but needs final editing. I hope to have it ready for publication by the end of this month.