Abstract and Landscape
I love my job. I love doing the research to become more effective at my job teaching kids with disabilities how to access their gifts. It’s easy, however, to get absorbed by the work, Barely noticing when your feet turn to clay and your head turns to Jell-O (which is just as susceptible to gravity).I… Continue reading Get Your Head in the Clouds
I started this piece between bouts of pneumonia a few months ago. My intention was and is to give it to a friend who has supported my creativity for years now, but almost as soon as I scraped the first blobs onto the canvas, my creative journey stalled back into neutral. Teaching from home through… Continue reading A Way Forward
I've been sending out resumes for weeks, but today was the first morning in weeks that I set an alarm. Job searching is rolling a rock up almost to the top of the hill each day just to watch it crash into a ravine as the sun sets. It’s a slow-drip infusion of limbo, and… Continue reading One Battle, Many Fronts
I was already stressed by the time we got to the checkout line yesterday. It was the first time since the start of the pandemic that both boys and I had been to a store together, and standing in line made the afternoon feel like a holiday. We chatted with another middle-aged mom and a… Continue reading A Way Out
When Thing1 was still a pea-picker, he hunched over his Matchbox cars for hours, watching their wheels and gears as he drove them around carpets and vitas he created and telling them their stories. I wish I had written them down because sometimes I think he needs proof as to just how creative he is.… Continue reading Common Creativity
So here I am in the backyard, shooting flowers again, wondering where my creative life is going. It might look like I’ve come full circle, but, when I look closer, my loop has the twists of a Möbius band. Fifteen years ago, wanting a creative career, I ran a wedding photography business. I sucked at… Continue reading Me and Imogen
We may be the only house in Vermont where you can’t actually see a mountain. We carved our plot out of the middle of a hill, leaving as many trees as possible. The result is that we can see outlines of mountains through the branches in the winter, but most of our view is defined… Continue reading Tree Noise
When grading papers or doing homework, I always have music or reruns on in the background. I want white noise. When I write early in the morning, the only soundtrack I need is the sound of scribbling which, surprisingly, sounds like two cats purring and a little dog happily groaning as light starts to fill… Continue reading Sounds of Scribbling
My problem is not finding enough couch-friendly inspiration to keep busy on a rainy quarantine Friday. The problem is picking one creative battle and ignoring the distractions of social media and mindless TV watching to stick with it. The day was about, as we say at school, "making good decisions", in this case just one… Continue reading Making Good Decisions
I've been pretty faithful about protecting and curating the figurines my kids have made over the years. I keep them on the shelf least likely to be jumped on by the cats. In my new office I’ve added another shelf -- the one I use to display greeting cards at art fairs. Right now it's… Continue reading Gallery Management
I love special education because it’s all about finding the spark in someone and helping it glow. It’s an act of hope informed by evidence. I’m housebound now and spending too much time on social media. The temptation to give into fear or despair is great, but the same internet that serves up daily examples… Continue reading Front Row at the Renaissance
Sometimes it seems easier to believe in them, To see their sparks needing to be fanned and fed, Than it is to do the work that feeds my own, But when the prodding turns the embers into flames, Their white hot divine makes plain that when I believe in them, I believe in me.
Rachel Barlow Art 