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Faith -the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For me faith is not about a particular religious set of doctrines or practices, but as described in this passage from Hebrews in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. There has been a grounding in my life that tends towards a sense of security and abundance through a connection that I felt when I learned as a child that "God is Love."

I have always understood my father to be the root source of my faith, so it made sense to me that he showed up in these three works that eventually revealed themselves to be about faith. I in fact did not know what this series theme was until I created all the pieces for “resilient,” and the aha moment came. An archive of family papers had come to me following the passing of my mother (my father had been long passed) – Mom really kept everything with any hint of emotional connection. So, yes, I have all my report cards, every greeting card sent to them from me, every letter. In the stash was a typewritten sermon written and given by my father to a family reunion gathering in 1974. I made copies of that wonderful old typewriter typeface and used it as a unifying collage element in all three resilient pieces. The text itself was not a particularly remarkable piece of oratory, but his closing words exemplified the faith life he demonstrated and blessedly, passed on to me – “Beloved, if God so loved us, even so let us love – not in word, but in deed.” (paraphrase from 1 John 3:18)

So, the last series created for the residency, Faith:

Lost – Always in Trouble

Healed – Growing to be a Man

Resilient – Standing on the Promises

My paternal grandfather and his family now stand proxy for all those whom I have loved and lost as he and my father’s family have all now passed. That which takes away has been painfully and abundantly obvious in these pandemic times as we have fought a war with a microbiological enemy. Healing and resilience have come to me through family, both the family I was born into, and the family I have made through life.

Lost: Off to War

Healed: Walter Met Helen

Resilient: Walter and His Girls

Home is where the heart is. Home for the holidays. Home sweet home. Homesick. There's no place like home.

The first series that emerged during the creative process in my residency concerned a concept of home. I reacted with somewhat strong emotions to a very faded picture of an old home in my collection of family photos. I don't even know whose home it was. Having lived in 28 different places in my lifetime, my sense of “home” has never had the opportunity to be tightly connected to a single location. In fact, at one point in my family’s life we found ourselves homeless and taken in by relatives for a year. Only ten years ago did I move into what I hope will be my forever home, or as close to it as I can manage as end-of-life issues emerge. It is the first address that I have had for double-digit years. Am I "Home"?

Healing so many lost place connections in my life has always been facilitated for me through my relationship with my younger sister who shares my “nesting” tendencies and tastes. Antiquing, thrifting, DIY-ing....Martha Stewart ain't got nothing on these two girls. But my lifelong transience has shown me, time and time again, that “home” is not in fact a place at all, but rather wherever I am with those I love.

Series Home:

Lost: Homestead

Healed: Sisterhood

Resilient: Home is Wherever We're Together