I have been a writer since my teens, first by using a journal, then as a young college student. I wrote papers about my philosophy of life and began writing on drawings, a practice that continues into the present.
Professionally, I became a philosopher of art, exploring a range of themes: the work of philosopher Mikhail M. Bakhtin (1895-1975), the cultural function of art and the vocation of the artist, aesthetic education, spirituality and creativity, and leadership. For nearly thirty years I published in both academic and popular venues, from scholarly books to art reviews. After retiring from academic life in 2013, and following the devastating flood that destroyed so much in Jamestown where my husband and I lived, I stopped publishing articles and reviews, and began to work on my seventh book, which was published in 2018. Beginning Again: Reflections on Art as Spiritual Practice, is available from Cascade Books, a selective imprint within Wipf and Stock, and from Amazon. This book is the fruition of reflection over nearly forty years about creativity and contemplation, or perhaps more simply, about art and meditation. Following its publication, I traveled around the United States to share the book.
Most recently I have begun to write occasional pieces, including reflections about both personal and contemporary topics, such as the Hawks, Garudas, and Snakes, the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, loss and suffering, and haiku that explore a range of themes but are not intended for publication. Writers from Flannery O'Connor to Henry Miller have commented that they write to find out what they think. I would add that I write and draw to give form to thoughts and feelings, and especially to fleeting phenomena. I was once asked if I could be anything in nature, what I would choose. Immediately, I replied "clouds." Clouds were my first teachers about the inevitability of change and impermanence. Haiku, in particular, offer a form that is well suited to such immediacy and evanescence.
