Quick Progress

Things move quickly. I’ve studied LM’s printmaking work for two days, reviewed her artist’s rant, and looked up the techniques in Judy Martin’s Encyclopedia of Printmaking. Today, coincidentally, she receives an email from the editor of THE publication for printmaking in the U.S. Apparently, she and LM met at a conference and forged a true connection, whereupon the editor was moved to offer a her feature space in the publication. The time has arrived and it happens to coincide with the week I’m conducing interviews with LM.

I email the editor. They need a 3,000 word interview by early January. I leave on the 5th for residency. Can I pull it off? Yes, yes, and YES. I meet with LM this afternoon. We begin preliminaries but it is all easy and flowing because LM and I trust each other and have a true heart connection from our time together in Women’s Singing Night. I borrow books on the history of etching and Rembrandt from her vast library. Then we go out in the field beyond her studio that faces the Black Mountains. We stand together and meditate for an hour by candlelight as the sun sets, then close with three ritual songs. Next, we share dinner at her cabin with she and her husband. We recap the plan for tomorrow and say goodnight. “Thank you for walking this path with me,” she says into my ear as we embrace.

Tomorrow, I’ll begin the first interview, then come home and type the transcripts. The next two interviews will probably happen early next week and then I’ll have one to two days to produce the interview in edited and intentional form for the publication. I send the editor an email outlining some of my purposes as a writer, including a link to my website (up and running just in time!) where she can read samples of my work.

Hard work pays off. So does receptivity. What a fine way to move into the New Year!