I’ve been having a lot of fun making woodblocks and prints inspired by my rowdy tribe of children. At 3, 3, and 5 they are active, vocal, and when they get going it can be hard to redirect their energy. These prints are mostly inspired by pounding on our kitchen table at mealtimes with various utensils and they are, admittedly, very satisfying to make.

This little reel shows the textures made by one minute of each: pounding with a metal straw; sawing with a butter knife; pounding with a toy hammer; and poking with the tines of a fork. I think the fork is my favorite.

It was pretty much a dream come true to have my tedious work about the tedious work of caring for newborn twins selected for the ArtistMother Podcast exhibition in Fort Wayne Indiana, Painting at Night. I was incredibly proud to behold my work alongside so many incredibly talented artist/mothers and to share it with the world in a way that it’s scale could be properly experienced at the beautiful Artlink Fort Wayne Gallery.

I’m so grateful to the curators of Maine Magazine’s arts edition and virtual exhibition, Wren Manly, Patricia King, Hilary Irons, and Dinah Minot. To have my work reviewed by these amazing women and deemed worthy to share as one of 25 Maine artists of 2021 is an honor. I’m equally grateful that they chose to print my words about this series along side the work, to feel seen is a humbling and beautiful thing. See the full work along side the other Maine artists here.

I’m thrilled to have six of my upcycled box prints included in the George Marshall Store Gallery’s inaugural exhibition under new management. The show features the work of six emerging artists with strong ties to Maine, and eclectic and cheerful mix of pottery, painting, printmaking and more centered around the theme of transition.

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It was such a treat to talk with Forrest about my journey as an artist and a wonderful exercise to look at how far I’ve come and articulate how I got here. Head over to his site to give it a read.

I’m honored to be selected as part of The Art Center‘s Printmaking at the Edge exhibition, featuring printmakers from around the globe.

The work that was selected is an abstract piece called, “No Naps. Night Wandering.” You can read a review of the exhibition and more from curator Sally Dion here.

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No Naps/Night Wandering is a 21×31″ abstract woodblock print. It was carved in spring of 2019, when I had 3 month old twins and a 2 year old. The progress was slow, stealing tiny moments of time while all three children napped, or when just one was awake and able to join me on the carpet. When living with infants you become hyper aware of the passing of time, sometimes wishing for it to speed up, other times desperate to commit sweet moments – like the weight of them on your shoulder – to memory. The act of taking a simple gesture, made in fractions of a second, and then carving it so slowly over a matter of months is a way for me to expand time. Each carving session a meditation on a day that is a distant memory now but brought back to the surface when I take in the work.

In January of 2020 I embarked on a self-imposed Residence in Motherhood as a means to reflect on the previous year in which I raised twin babies and a two year old. By documenting and spending time with the relics from this period in our lives I coped with the experience, committed some details to memory, and finally let them go.

I started out on this journey to relive the pumping portion of my breastfeeding experience with my twins as a way to process the tedious – while beneficial – act of pumping and and cope with the fact that I was never able to provide enough milk for them without supplementation. In the process I formed many correlations between pumping and the meditation of carving and in the end I found peace and even pride in what I was able to provide for them. Seeing and feeling the quantification helped me to grasp the enormity of it and understand the time and labor of my undertaking.

In February of 202o I decided to embark on an official residence in motherhood, a series of projects to help quantify my experience with two babies last year and to honor the relics that have already disappeared from my daily life. I’m going to collagraph, monoprint, and make cyanotypes in addition to traditional mark making and whatever else grow out of this journey. Thank you for following along.