1991

Cynthia     1991     Edition of 10

A bird on wing
A nightingale about to sing
A dancing lady with no bounds
On truly, truly grateful grounds
A tree, a willow lady, me
Turning oh so gracefully
I give one gift above the rest
I give the world my very best

Finding this poem (written in 1973), while looking through a lifetime of my past writings, I thought it would be an appropriate little piece to start this blog with. I was 19 when I wrote it, newly married, and searching for a direction that would satisfy my growing desire to encase my life in the arts. I met Robert in a drawing class. Intrigued by his talent I made a point of getting to know him better. Now we were married, he was in graduate school, and we were looking at a future that held the promise of a very creative life for both of us. Yet it also held such great unknowns.

Within four years we had a child, Robert had a job teaching art, and I, holding on to my dreams, started to find ways to help support us, stay home with my child, and continue my creative journey. After a few years, and another child, I started to make dolls, cloth children wearing fancy Victorian dresses. Through time the dolls began to develop into a family, a girl, a boy, a toddler, a mother. Their costuming getting more elaborate, I was developing a following. And yet I was getting increasingly restless and eager to take these dolls to a new place creatively.

It all seems so long ago now.

What will the future bring?
With all my wants, which will I realize?
Which will lie down and die as age changes attitude?
Which will grow till l can no longer ignore its’ persistence and let it direct my way?

There came a time when I could no longer ignore the persistence of this desire, to see if I could give them sculpted faces and hands, to grace them with movement and attitude.

This blog is a history of that journey.