There is a journal that I've been looking for that is from the years when I was nine and ten or so. My Mother had given me a blank book to write it and I tried to write every day. There are so many memories in that book, and for a while I couldn't find it, but then today when I was listening to an audio only webinar, as I listened my eyes saw the book underneath another larger one on the bookshelf where I had thought I had it all along. It feels so good to know that this book is here and I can refer to it again. In an among the daily notes and thoughts of my life at that time there is some really beautiful writing, things that show the beginnings of the writing that I still do to this day. There are also some poems that I wrote a few years later, tucked into the book under the front cover, and it's so good to be able to look at all of these things and be reminded of who I was and where I have grown to in my life now.
YES Gallery is a place that is so full of creative energy that my own writing and art have been reemerging in the ways that they did at different times over the years. I've never stopped, but sometimes things are much fewer and further in between. A friend who called me the other day said it seemed as if I'm doing an event every other day and while it's not that often, the creative spark of my days is regularly inspiring me to create something new, to plan new events, to make new art, write new poetry, design new areas and experiment with new recipes and foods.
Visitors to YES Gallery often ask me if all of the artwork in the space is mine which is something that always surprises me. As I tell them that around 19 Artists are represented in the space, including some who are part of collaborations, I find myself explaining that my own art is a combination of many things, including curating and helping to create beautiful spaces for people to gather and experience beautiful art. There are things that I've created in YES Gallery, college pieces, refurbished and repurposed furnishing, poetry, and other visual art pieces, but the biggest thing that I've realized is that the entire space is one large collage piece and installation in collaboration with other Artists and creative people who share their work and inspiration in the space.
Now that I have my old journal again, I'm looking forward to adding some of the writing in it to a new piece to create something new. Reflecting on my own life and delving into the past of my childhood seems like a very important thing to do in the space of the gallery where everything from the past and the present seem to be meeting to make all things new.
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