Growth Cracks

Charley: the ever lovin' light of my family's life. Courtesy of Maury Gortemiller . 2010

Sometimes, my often skeptical self just has to admit that it truly is amazing how some things just seem to fit. all at once. together. On some random day, out of the proverbial blue, some crazy kind of intuition or luck kicks in; all things begin to make sense. Or-at least-feel more like "okay."

Now that the vaguest of prefaces is complete, I'll tell you that - since graduating from college with a BFA in both Printmaking and Art Education about a year ago - I have been working a job in Atlanta that is at any given moment boring me to tears and making me the most grateful "young professional" out there in the "real world," just to have a job and work with people I admire and love, at something that is ever-so-mildly related to my interests. I have been battling the ever-present torment to just make a break from my financial (often wobbly) stability and find some minute (but out there somewhere!) way to just make art again; full time. And, maybe garden, cook, practice yoga, and ride my bike, too. Until I find my way to do the aforementioned, I am thrilled to be a part of the following show this upcoming Saturday:

and, to be making work in my basement (studio):


"Things To Do" notebook (soon to appear on liontailpress.etsy.com)

And, of course, for my garden and the folks that love me enough to listen to me tell the story of how I recently (out loud) apologized to one of my adolescent sunflowers for almost knocking it over when pulling a nasty weed that was all up in its grill.

Speaking of weirdness in the garden: I have noticed in the past week that my maturing tomatoes are all developing some kind of spirally crack near their stems. On Tuesday of this week, I thought to myself, "oh damn..they've got worms." That night, I had a dream that a friend of mine noticed this on a tomato I was trying to give her as a gift, and I tried to reassure her saying, "don't worry about it. That's just a freakin' growth crack."


The next morning at work (during a lull in productivity), I was researching tomato pests and problems only to stumble upon a large, bold heading reading "GROWTH CRACKS" looming over a photograph much like the one above. I tell you what, dear reader: sometimes life is full of its squirrelly tricks and treats.