Call & Response

The Call: Years in the Making — Cheryl

Years ago, I came across a great idea in Martha Stewart Living: remove the staples from one end of a stretched canvas; slide an unframed, magnetic dry erase board between the canvas and stretchers; re-staple; then paint and hang for a personalized memo board. I already owned most of the materials needed, so I added the magnetic board to canvas, painted the whole shebang a nice light blue, came up with an idea for a design, drew one small element of it, and left it untouched for years. With the completion of my remodeled studio looming (at least, in theory), I decided to get back to work on the memo board, going so far as to draw a new design (just some boxes for frames) and start painting it. It didn’t take me long to realize that my “masterpiece” was not heading in a direction I liked, so I let three-year-old Stella add her own personal touch. Soon enough, I was back at the canvas, with paintbrush in hand, creating a sun, for some reason. I worked on it here and there (doing it backward, of course: filling in the background after painting in the sun and its rays), and today — finally — I am ready to call it finished (even though — Bridget tells me — Leonardo DaVinci once wrote, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”)

Finished or abandoned: for me, it is an accomplishment.

The Response: Deer in the Field — Jessica

Deer are everywhere around my home. My lack of landscaping is a testament to that fact. But as common as they are I have relatively few pictures of them. For the longest time, I never seemed to have my camera with me when I was close enough to photograph them. It was something that I really, really wanted to do. As I kid, I loved nature shows: Mutual of Omaha’s Wild America, Jacques Cousteau, Marty Stoffer. As an adult, however, I find that I have very little patience for wildlife photography. Maybe it’s just because I cut my photographic teeth on fast-moving toddlers. But I still dream of getting that tack-sharp animal photograph. Until then, I’ll settle for a quick snapshot of the deer with my cell phone. It’s still an accomplishment to me.