Grafted Thought: An Explanation for the Playing

There is a branch of educational psychology that focuses on the idea of the successful teacher as a person who never loses the fragile connection between what it is like to be the teacher and the student, the adult and the child.  It is said that a person who keeps the balance of the two will not only make for a wonderful teacher, but will also never grow old for that person has found the link between worlds -- the outer reality and the inner workings of the child.  As I move closer and closer to becoming a teacher, I thought it only fitting to incorporate this idea into my work.
 
 

The Children Playing...

THE ARTIST:    If anything, an artist is what I have been all my life.  I started out in embroidery around the age of five and slowly worked my way through the creation of patterns and weavings to pencil, clay, paint, graphics, and photography.  To me, my art is an ever-evolving means of expression that fuses both my personal life, and my personality with the world around me -- a mirror that blends the fantasy with the realistic.  Part of this mirror stems in the inspiration I find in my surroundings.  I am fortunate enough to live in a suburb that is partially resisting development.  I need only go down the street to find Civil War battlefields, forests, winding roads,  farms and quite a few rolling hills.  Yet, I also go to the university in the capital city -- a place immersed in enormous detail in a variety of styles from gothic architecture to buildings of steel and glass.  I am mere blocks from cobblestone streets, the centers of the Catholic and Episcopalian Churches, and a theatre designed to look like a mosque.  With so much detail around me, my art also becomes very detailed.

THE WRITER:  As in the case of the Artist, my writer-child is among the oldest.  I have been writing since I was eight and my passion for it has only increased.  For the most part, I write stories of the science fiction, fantasy, and mystery/suspense breed.  I have been known to write a few plays off and on and my One Act play "The Bet" was published back in 1996.  I also write some poetry (a few pieces also published that same year), essays, and I am currently thinking about beginning yet another serial.  However, novel writing is my primary focus.  In any form, I am always interested in bringing the realism into my writing.  I love toying with motives and character dilemmas that make even the  bad guys not-quite-so-unlikeable afterall.

THE DOCTOR:  For the longest time, I considered becoming a surgeon.  In fact, I devoted a significant chunk of my existence to the idea.  But in the end, things change.  Although I am still highly interested in the medical field, I know that that path is one I will never walk.  Yet even though the possibility is gone, the child still remains.  At times, I wonder what would have happened had I gone ahead with the idea, but my art slowly moved me away from it.  This is not to say that my medical background does not influence my work because it in fact does.  I find myself viewing the work with a much more critical yet scientific eye.    With steady hands, I work in tiny details, working to bring as much realism and quality to the piece as possible.  And as you can see from the format of this site, my medical influences are still alive and well.

THE EXPLORER:  To better understand, you could take a look at my surroundings... the places in which I've grown.  As I mentioned, any time I feel in the mood for an adventure, I need only want to take a short drive.  Also, I live approximately two hours from both the beach and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The nearest river is about 4-5 miles down the road and it is surrounded by the marshes.  Spending most of my childhood and adolescent years here, my art reflects the natural elements in which I live... as well as my love of forests, beaches, and the mountains.

But, perhaps you are more curious about the woman behind all the children...
 

Link to my personal page