March 2023
Marching Into Something New
Fun fact about me: I have synesthesia. There are many different forms of this condition, but basically what happens is that different senses “cross” over each other, resulting in things like smelling textures or tasting sounds. In my case, I hear colors in music and, occasionally, in voices. I also strongly associate colors with certain numbers, days, and months.
March is green. Maybe that’s because of St. Patrick’s Day, or maybe it’s because it’s when most places start to see evidence of spring (not in Wisconsin), but regardless—March has always felt new to me. It’s a time when, if I’m not careful, I can start to feel restless. And it’s usually when I throw myself into my newest project.
This year, I do have something new to share. My first collection of poetry, Scribbles, Rhymes, and Lima Beans, will be available for pre-order at the end of the month (stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the release). This is a project that I’ve been working on for about 2 years, and I’m so excited to finally share it. The poems in this book address a variety of topics, but mostly they represent the idea of growth—sometimes through pain, sometimes through joy, but always growing.
On My Bookshelf
Once again, I’m branching out into a genre I don’t usually read: memoirs. This month’s book is called Con/Artist: the Life and Crimes of the World’s Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro. Maybe I thought the title was clever and picked it up solely based on that… maybe I’m using it as research for a new story idea… I guess we’ll have to wait and see 😉 Either way, I really enjoyed it. Not only was it exciting and adventurous, but it’s also filled with fascinating information about master artists and how they worked. What made Tetro so good at forging is that he would create a story around each piece he created (you can see why that appealed to me). He’d research until he found a period in which an artist’s exact works weren’t accounted for, and then he would make his own to fill in the blanks. And he thought of everything—where the artist would have been at that point in history, which materials he would have had to work with, what could have happened to the painting in the decades and centuries to follow, and how that in turn would affect the canvas and the frame. It was a fascinating read (and it gave me a ton of new ideas for a future project!) and I’d definitely recommend it!
Poetry Corner
March
March craves green
along the stream
of consciousness that flows
from lines on white
fresh paper bright
where artists will suppose.
But only gray
has filled the day
from Lenten hymns all slow
and skies that cloud
above a shroud
of ashen, dirty snow.