Wow, what a year. German poet Christian Morgenstern’s poem “The Seagulls” begins “seagulls look as though their name were Emma.” It makes our world sound so simple, everything in nature is as it is, in place and together. The artist, however, dissects her world, sees patterns, colors, sometimes multiple colors in a single moss-covered rock …
Mil-spouse photographer/artist Narissa Alford has turned her frequent PCSes into opportunities. She meets change by embracing new cultures and translating them into visual works of art. Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where you are today. I met my husband when we were both managers for a department …
This year has been filled with so many changes, some expected and some unexpected. Since my 2019 interview, my husband and I PCS’ed to Charleston, SC after a 7.5-month deployment that seemed to go on forever. I had to relearn everything once more on how to navigate a new environment which is hard to do …
Ashley Hope James, painter and Army spouse, talks about living partly in the here-and-now and partly in the what’s-to-come. Knowing that change is always ahead shapes her identity, philosophy and art. MilspoFAN: Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where you are today. Ashley Hope: “Who am I?” is …
Since checking in a year ago, I did finish a poetry manuscript before the pandemic hit. Some of the individual poems have been published in journals, some of them quite recently. One of those poems, “Pursuit,” won first place in the military family member category for Line of Advance’s Col. Darron L. Wright Award, and …
Doubt in ourselves can sometimes hold us back, but painter and military spouse Sidra Hassan-Brown paints through fears and self-consciousness. Inspired by the strong women in her life, she discovers her own strengths in each piece of art she creates. MilspoFAN: Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where …
Crafting this follow-up guest post on MilspoFAN was a stellar way to reflect on my creative journey and share some enthusiasm for a hopeful future. Fate bought me a ticket for a two-year-long rollercoaster ride with the crazy pandemic-loop-de-loop that we’re all on, thrown in for free. I celebrated my 50th birthday right after the …
Hello fellow Mil Spouse artists. I am so honored to be back writing to you all again and I hope that everyone is doing well during these uncertain times. Creating art for many of us is an incredible outlet during times of difficulty. As a dancer, however we have all been forced to think and …
A.C. Williams is an Army Spouse and dancer who has danced in response to change since her teenage years. She shares how dance can be transformative in positive ways to combat all the ways life attempts to transform us negatively. MilspoFAN: Tell us a little about yourself, your journey as a military spouse, and where …
Has this COVID year changed you? Hi everyone! Has this been a weirdly memorable year or what? I really thought that pandemics were only things your granny hinted at quietly, too awful to recall and speak of out loud. And here we are in the middle of one. I for one am looking forward to …