artist at play
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/22/24
On my nightstand: Like a good secretary to himself,he has made lists.—Anita Shreve, Eden Close That little excerpt from a sentence in Anita Shreve’s novel jumped right off the page at me, sparking an immediate smile and shoulder-lift. All these years I’ve thought of myself as a [mere] list-maker, a characterization that doesn’t have nearly… Continue reading
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From My Commonplace Book, On My Easel 4/17/24
From my commonplace book: There is something richly fascinating about empty houses. There is the thin, echoing air and the sense of vastness. There is the curious wonder of who had lived there, and what they had lived with, and the automatic projection of self into the rooms. There I would put my favorite lamp,… Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/16/24
On my nightstand: “You know,” my aunt says,“I once had a difficult period that lastedtwenty-four years.”Wait. Twenty-four years?“And it was so important to realizethat I didn’t knowwhat was on the other side of the darkness.Every so often there was a sliver of lightthat shot the whole world throughwith mystery and wonder, and reminded me:I didn’t… Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/15/24
On my nightstand:Margery held up her hands.“Very well. Very well.I shall save my breath to cool my porridge,as you like to say.”—Annie Lyon, The Air Raid Book Club I do like me a good British idiom! On my easel: Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/12/24
On my nightstand:For years now, I have been keeping small, special notebooksinto which I write passages that strike me hardas I read the work of others …I hadn’t known, when I started this practice,that these are sometimes called commonplace books. —Dani Shapiro, Hourglass I wish you could have seen my eyes widen in surprise when… Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, At My Easel 4/11/2024
On my nightstand:At the moment of this writing,I am typing into a laptop keyboard.I first learned to touch-typethe summer of seventh gradeon an IBM Selectric.Apparently,using two spaces after a periodhas become anachronistic.But tell thatto my right thumb. Dani Shapiro, Hourglass On my easel: Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, At My Easel 4/9/2024
On my nightstand:It may be that when we no longer know what to dowe have come to our real workand that when we no longer know which way to gowe have begun our real journey.The mind that is not baffledis not employed.The impeded streamis the one that sings. —Wendell Berry On my easel: I am… Continue reading
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Illusion
One of the unexpected features of photo albums is how they can create illusion, i.e. a photo can imply so much more than what is captured in the single moment it depicts. For example, for years and years, I baked countless cookies each December to share with others and enjoy as holiday desserts. My kids… Continue reading
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Guest Artist
When my kids were youngsters I read an article in Mothering magazine that sparked me to make a particular style of hand puppet called a “puffet,” using an outgrown snap-front sweatshirt that had been worn by Jay as an infant. Pookie was magical! The kids would engage in conversations with him of a sort that… Continue reading
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More Than I Bargained For
I’ve admired the art of Michelle Nyberg for some months now. Then, to my great delight, just as I was recently feeling betwixt and between, casting about for a new art inquiry, she offered a downloadable class. YES! With impulsivity that is perhaps more characteristic of me than I might want to admit, I grabbed… Continue reading
My Story
In 2014, I grab an unexpected opportunity to paint.
To make art.
I get hooked.
In 2015 I start a blog—a diary of my life as an artist.
I post my paintings and their stories. The good, the bad, the ugly.
My compass points: bust through fear, be playful, get messy, trust my gut.
dottyseiter: now playing 