A Return from Isolation

I have been a collage and paper artist since I watched a PBS Special on making handmade paper from recycled materials in 1987. Between then and 2000 I wrote a book (The Art of Handmade Paper & Collage, out of print), traveled and taught throughout the United States and Canada, was part of an Artist's Cooperative Gallery, took and taught multiple classes and workshops, appeared on the Carol Duval show on HGTV and generally had a ball. I was also a graphic designer and Art Director for a Publishing Company in the field of quilting and crafting. I couldn't have been luckier!

Then I was stopped cold by a cluster of health problems. Over the course of a year I stopped teaching, stopped traveling, stopped working.... I know this has happened to many people, not just artists, and it is a journey of terrible loss you go on by yourself. But thanks to my beloved husband's foresight in building a tiny studio for me, I have never stopped creating. Just sitting out there looking through things is as much as I can do many days, but it is enough.

As the Internet boomed with places for artist websites, tutorials, and now blogs, I felt less and less isolated from all that was happening in the field of paper arts, multimedia, rubber stamping, quilting and dozens of other avenues of creative interest. My computer was as much of a godsend as my studio. However, nothing replaces the interaction with another creative soul, and I missed that most of all. Then....

Voila! the world of blogging grew by leaps and bounds and I could visit more artists than I had time for! see their work! be inspired! hear their stories and struggles and triumphs! Finally, the most recent issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors arrived (published by QuiltingArts.com) with a simple and encouraging article about starting your own blog - tiny blog - no pressure.

I decided to take the plunge today, and already I feel as if I'm talking to another creative soul!