YEAR: 2018
START DATE: January 4, 2018
END DATE: February 24, 2018

 First Coptic blank book I made under direction of Terri Lenoir. Cover idea of metamorphosis. A constant theme for me. Cremaster, cocoon, wings, death, worm, etc. Had been looking at women artists for inspiration and then George Orwell captured my mind. His short stories. This journal is strange to follow. I started writing on right side, and left the left open for visuals. But then went back in and wrote on the left - with list after list of ideas for essays divided by themes: (1) The Personal; (2) Nature; (3) Traveling; (4) The Work; (5) Great Art Experiences; (6) Connection to the Divine; (7) Friendships and Schisms; (8) 29 Pieces; (9) Grief on a Scale of 1-10; (10) Cats and Dogs True Love; (11) Nebraska Stories. So the pages don’t track properly or in an orderly way. On some, left side of spread jumps to left side of next spread. Many short essay/story ideas on various real life themes that I thought I could work on while waiting for new studio to be built. I was still thinking that we were going to build a large studio onto the back of the house here in Dallas. Never happened. Dreams. Dream with Matt Bull (who I barely know) - 29 Pieces next to the Taj Mahal. Content. Mystified. Serene after a dream. Contemplative winter period. Kelly in Nebraska for weeks at a time dealing with his Mom’s care. Thoughts on marriage, coupling. Conversation with former intern. News of UNL Alumni Achievement Award. Beginning of responses to the interview questions from UNL. “Where did you grow up?” Right and left hand responses. My home town - Columbus, Nebraska. Where Buffalo Bill had first rehearsals for his Wild West Show. “When did you first discover that you had artistic talent?” Finally getting a room of my own in my senior year of high school. “What made you choose UNL?” “How did training at UNL prep me for my career?” “What was I involved in at UNL?” “What brought you to Texas?” A printed copy of all my responses is inserted into the back of this journal. I had found myself saying “fuck” more since the November, 2016 election of Trump than at any time in my life. This triggered an interest in the use and overuse of “fuck” as vocabulary for frustration, anger, sex, stupidity, astonishment, confusion, chaos, mistakes and on and on. I was amused by the inserted article on the definition of a fuck-up, a snafu, a shitshow and a clusterfuck. Prior to joint replacement surgeries and I was in a lot of chronic, physical pain.

Receiving the Alumni Achievement Award at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Friends coming together. Meals together. Lots of togetherness. Traveling with wheelchair help. Walking with cane.

Handmade book made under guidance of Terri Lenoir at Paper Arts in Dallas. Responses to questions posed from a UNL publication for an article. Contemplative times.Many ideas flowing for short stories.

29 Pieces was in the middle of plans to begin Piece 10.