Day ThirtyNine: A Community I Never Expected

Daily Word Count: 3,043
Cumulative Words Written: 62,457
Total Words Discarded: 14,500
Total Chapters Drafted: 25
Time Spent Writing Today: 4 hours

Residencies congeal into a community I never expected. One of their biggest draws? For me, it isn’t time abroad or immersion in another culture or escaping the American dumpster fire.

For me, residencies are community.

Here and there, I’ve written about how lonely the past three years have been. Much of the time, I’ve been angry at forces beyond my control. At myself for not being stronger. At my body for failing to protect me. Even at people for not being there in ways that nurture or heal.

My time at Buinho is drawing to a close. Today, I highlight the artists who became part of a community I never expected.

Before I highlight their work, I want to share what these people have come to mean to me. Unlike any other residency I’ve experienced, we bonded as a loose family. Sharing communal meals. Talking late into the night. Planning day trips into the countryside and trips to the local swimming pool. Even forcing me to dance when I wanted to sob alone in my studio after Lillian died. Janet sent me one of the most lovely emails in the wake of Lillian’s passing. After only a few days together, she knew how much Lillian’s death would necessitate a personal, private word balm. I’ve returned to it again and again when I needed to shore up my spirit to face another day (or another hour.)

Suffice it to say, these artists are dear souls. Spend a few minutes getting to know them. You won’t regret it.

Jennifer Bockelman

Jen is based near Lincoln, Nebraska. While she describes herself as a sculptor, her website features an eclectic range of creativity. I especially love the categories Superposition, Field Recordings, and Public Record in the image below. Click on the images to check out her work.

And if you’re anywhere near Nebraska, Jen’s work is featured for the next few months at the Museum of Nebraska Art. She’s part of their Nebraska Now series from 13 July to 6 October 2019.

Janet Haslett

Born in Jos, Nigeria, Janet spent much of her life in Australia. Like me, she delved into the creative life in her forties, having spent her earlier career as a journalist. These days, she and her partner Bruce are temporarily based in Europe to be closer to English family. Click on the images to check out her work.

Janet’s landscapes (above) are haunting and visceral. I especially love how she creates several pieces and fits them together into a larger work. Janet’s sculpture builds on her interest in the landscape, using grasses and other natural fibers to construct an alternate universe seen through her eye.

Sebastiao Bizarro

A Lisbon-based product designer, Sebastiao also helps keep Buinho up and running. He designed a chair MTM will covet. I’m relieved it’s only a prototype, because I don’t know how we’d get it home. Sebastiao also herded the rest of us non-Portuguese-speakers around the countryside and made sure we had several locals-only experiences. Click on the images to check out his instagram.

I really love Sebastiao’s time lapse video of a recent full moon. It’s in the next set of photographs.

Tone Bockmann

Tone lives and works in suburban Oslo, Norway. Though her primary interest is storytelling with oil paints, she experimented with watercolor portraits at Buinho. With her Nordic good cheer, she charmed the locals into posing for her, and she turned those snapshots into striking works of watercolor art. Click on the images to check out her work.

And here’s a lovely photo of Tone painting in Florence earlier this year. I dearly miss her stash of Casal Garcia Vinho Verde. She always kept multiple bottles chilled for sharing.

Sarah Thibault

Based in the Bay area, Sarah is on her third residency in a row. She arrived from Iceland and inspired me to try for a place there next year. At Buinho, she’s been working on large-format oil paintings, drawn from her time in Iceland. But she’s a multi-faceted artist and writer with extensive show and curatorial experience. Click on the images to check out her work.

Sarah’s also the first artist who’s ever asked me to pose for her. Who knows what she’ll make of these images of Tone and me! (Photo credits: Sarah Thibault)

I hope you enjoyed getting to know this community I never expected!

To follow my residency at Buinho Creative Hub from the beginning, CLICK HERE and read forward.