“There is something that you are born to do. You can feel it. Maybe you forgot what it was because of where life has taken you, but it’s there…” I wrote those words two years ago. Feeling stuck on where to begin my ‘what-have-I’ve-been-up-to’ post, I found myself going back to when I was last …
Well, a lot has happened since MilspoFAN interviewed me two years ago. I’ve had two new books come out: American Samizdat (Diode, 2019), a collection of poetry about our current political moment, and throughsmoke (New Rivers Press, 2019), a book-length essay about how I came to fall in love with perfume. I also have another …
2020 has been a huge kick in the pants for me, and as my husband so calmly assessed, “We were about due.” But, before I get into what a slog the last couple months have been, let me share how awesome 2019 was.In February 2019, my show Spaces in Between was installed at the Liberty …
IHello from Camp Humphreys, South Korea!! Last year, at this time, I was planning my “Coastal” art show, from MacDill AFB, in Tampa, Florida. The show took place last March and was a huge success! The paintings were inspired by the tropical beach environment of the gulf coast. It was a wonderful opportunity to gather one last time, …
Happy 2020 to all of you MilspoFAN artists! I hope you had a chance to step back and relax a little over the holidays (as I had to make the conscious decision to do). Now that it’s back to the mid-January grind, it’s also that time to reflect on the past year and plans for …
I just got back from a month-long residency at Jentel Arts Foundation in Banner, Wyoming in November. Artist residencies are kind of like art camp for adults. Usually you get paid (a little), they put you up, give you studio space to create and sometimes even feed you. Jentel is an artist residency on a …
Wow, 3 years; I can’t believe it’s been that long since my first post for my MilspoFan interview. It has been a crazy interesting 3 years to say the least. This past year has been nothing short of challenging, fun, full of adventure, scary and wonderful at the same time. I have continued singing at church …
This year has been a fun and wild ride! We found out last December that we were expecting! Shortly after, I began suffering from EXTREME morning sickness and by March was formally diagnosed with Hyperemisis. I thankfully was able to continue teaching, thanks to my sweet, patient and understanding students and coworkers. The Army kept …
We’ve just passed the one year mark on our chosen retirement location of Pensacola, Florida. My art career has progressed pretty well. I first made some art contacts through the Plein Air Painters of Pensacola. We get together to paint on location one morning every week. My on-location painting hasn’t improved very much, but I …
Right now, I’d classify my state of creativity as coming out of a dark age. I began 2019 by staying in line with my daily poem (or at least editing some poems). I like to keep a steady routine because my mind feels more open and the ideas looser. When I know I’ll be writing, …