A Humbling Experience Update #2

Its true I have a story to tell about my Arctic Circle expedition as a multi media artist whose practice contributes to climate change discussions. Building toward that story and presentation, scheduled for November 27, 2019 at Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) in Ottawa Canada, I’ve benefited by responding in gratitude to my Kickstarter Backers by creating their Rewards inspired by my tall ship expedition residency in Svalbard Archipelago, 79-degrees latitude. Previous blogs give the background if you are just coming to my blog site.

I’ve gradually reintegrated back into my life, but feel changed. As stated in my previous blog, I needed to sit quietly in my garden during the first few weeks of my return. Something inside refused to “perform” in anyway, leaving space for process all that had happened.

 

My experience was humbling on many levels. This was the only statement I was able to give when asked about the Expedition. And in the coming months I hope to be able to articulate why it was humbling.

I found it helpful to return to Svalbard by reviewing, organizing and editing my almost 4000 photographs, beginning the processing of my experiences.

During this time, I also selected 13 photographs for Kickstarter Backers to choose from according to their eligibility for either an Electronic or Print Photograph Reward. I met with several other Backers (Kickstarter term) for their Studio Visit Reward. This helped me begin to articulate my experience to others. I’m pleased to share that most of my Kickstarter Rewards have been delivered, and I’m making good progress on the remaining 8 Paintings Rewards due by end of September – October.

In addition, I’ve begun work on two public presentations to be delivered at the Britannia Yacht Club Wednesday November 27, 7 pm, and Research in Art (RIA) Salon also in November. More on this to come.

The Norwegian place name captions to my photos (below) are difficult for me to pronounce and remember. However, I do have the ship’s log, with documentation of dates and place names. I plan to work with these in my art once I complete the Kickstarter Reward commitments. Thank you again to everyone who has been so supportive on many levels throughout this project.