As this year zips on by for me (filled with some heavy stuff on the home front), I am slowly getting myself settled in my new town, Los Angeles. Frequent travel to both New York and Miami due to family crises and traumatic events have upset any sort of rhythm for settling in, creating, and all around feeling comfortable in strange, new, sprawling surroundings.
So this website doesn't have a little thumbnail yet for works created in 2017. I have been making art, but experimenting on smaller canvases due to my space limitations and time limitations. Life has a will of its own. The best creations come when we let things flow. We still work with the challenges within that flow when we're at work... but we have to let the river flow before we figure out how to direct its power. Because of "life getting in the way" (my mother in the last round of her fight with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and my recently dramatically paralyzed aunt -- my "2nd mom" -- post-stroke, leaving a formerly very active and spry woman completely incapacitated), I have found these challenges necessary to create a space for survival. Art and music are part of that, but so is rest, experiencing & processing grief, and helping with the many logistics that I believe are the duties of a conscientious, devoted daughter and niece.
So, as much as I was looking forward to taking this town by storm, once I got here, the storm got to me first. My aunt's massive stroke occurred one month into my move. That's when a difficult time in my life became extremely difficult. That's when my migraines took on an extremely foreign state that left me psychologically and neurologically paralyzed for weeks at a time, affecting my most basic life skills such as driving or holding a conversation. Being accidentally thrown off my own health insurance and fighting for my money back when my doctor repeatedly charged my credit card also set me back (and it was a brutal 3.5 month fight). Not to mention the minor car accident. There is a wave of upset in the Universe, of which I don't need to speak of all the awful things happening globally right now.
Returning to small world stuff -- I was fortunate enough to be invited into two group shows during this turbulent time in my life: one in LA (Santa Monica) and one in NYC (Greenpoint, Brooklyn). At the latter, I performed a handful of songs at as well. Below are a couple of pics of these summer shows. The real joy comes from meeting or reconvening with friends, new and old. Sure, it's a chance to show my work and bolster the CV... but mostly, the supportive people are who and what drive me. In addition to that though, there are some good things possibly on the horizon due to the Santa Monica showing... will keep you posted.
That's the update. I guess it's for those who wonder "where is 2017 on this website?" One day, I learn how to not project the judgment of others or feel the need for explanation or disclaimers. There are no 2017 works posted here (although you can see some on my Instagram page -- please follow me). I'm crazy busy fielding life's curve balls (I don't know much about baseball so maybe my expression is wrong?). Any caring human could understand that, yes? Those obsessed with the spoils going to the "go-getters" -- go get a heart... and a true-blooded life.
