@michelle.nyberg.art
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Small Victories
I’ve just begun rereading Anne Lamott’s book of essays, Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace, this time in audiobook format read by Anne herself. My heart keeps nodding yes!, yes!, yes! as Anne reads. Today’s small victory lay in a favorable shift in energy that took me to my studio after avoiding a particularly… Continue reading
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From My Commonplace Book, On My Easel 4/26/24
From my commonplace book: I finally had to cancel the rest of my appointments and go home for the day. I was distracted, and that’s when you run the risk of leaving the perm on too long, or cutting the bangs too short, or putting the crimp in sideways and your life isn’t worth two… Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/24/24
On my nightstand: It may be, then,that form serves us bestwhen it worksas an obstructionto baffle usand deflect our course.—Wendell Berry (again) Wendell, you have got my number! I set out with form and intention here and met with obstruction with dazzling speed. I fought and wrangled and nearly jumped ship. Until I didn’t. Flow… Continue reading
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On My Nightstand, On My Easel 4/23/24
On my nightstand: The brandy,kept for company,is in the cabinetwith the meat grinderover the fridge.—Anita Shreve, Eden Close Such a short sentence, filled with sturdy straightforward one- and two-syllable words, with ‘company’ and ‘cabinet’ the only words sporting three syllables and even then staying sturdy and straightforward. But what a gem, what an exquisite evocative… Continue reading
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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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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
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In the Middles
First small experiment in a possible new inquiry (thank you, Michelle Nyberg): • limited palette, • fusible fabric (thank you, MaryAnn Shupe),• printing with botanicals (slim pickings in New England in March!). 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.