Month: July 2021

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Weekly Round-up | Silver, Sword, Stone, and Getting Organized!

July 12 – July 18
Every week I create a round-up of my favorite reads and listens over the last 7 days. Some links go directly to articles and books, others go to my post with notes.

Getting Organized

“The system that meets your needs today will have to change tomorrow. That is not failure. That is life.”

One of the major projects on my list is organizing the paper archives of Kirkland Arts Center. This is no small task–with nearly 50 boxes of paper stuffs sitting around my office and the building at large. In this process I decided I needed to hire a consultant to get our grants in order. During one of my interviews, the Paper Solution by Lisa Woodruff was mentioned, and it was a really well timed read–not just for helping my work at Kirkland but also organizing my household now that I am combining my life with my now-husband more fully. The biggest take away in all of what Woodruff writes is grace — realizing that perfection is not achievable, that it is a perpetual process.

Silver, Sword, and Stone of Latin America

My latest history kick is focused on the histories of Latin and south America–a highly neglected area of study that I’ve felt unsure how to access. After reading 1491, I jumped to When Montezuma Met Cortez. Both books, while excellent, where very dense and slightly difficult reads for someone with a limited orientation to that region and history of our world.

I just picked up Silver, Sword, and Stone by Marie Arana, which already is reading much more smoothly, and seems to encompasses history that spans from the 1400s-today.

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Weekly Round Up | Achilles, Relationships, and Pottery


June 28 – July 2
Every week I create a round-up of my favorite reads and listens over the last 7 days. Some links go directly to articles and books, others go to my post with notes.

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This week was pretty slow in terms of recreational reading, as I ended up overloaded with work ahead of vacation. I also started a 8-week ceramics course at Kirklands Arts Center, as well as signed up for a landscape painting class with Justin Donaldson, one of my favorite painters!

My Character Design Process ft. The Song of Achilles - YouTube

The Song of Achilles

Millers imaginative telling of the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles was certainly an interesting and enjoyable read. Set from the perspective of Patroclus, it fills in details of their meeting, their time and love together during the Trojan war, and even the period post-death (from a strange ghost-like viewpoint). Stripped away, it is a young adult romance novel, so I don’t hold it to high literary expectations. The characters feel flat and one dimensional, and, as Mendelsohn describes, seems to be confused with finding tone and pace. Yet, despite being ‘fast food fiction’ it was still a fun, quick read that was a much welcomed distraction during a week of commuting.

Relationships & Communication

Whenever my partner and I have communication mishaps, I like to dig around and do some refresher reading on communication and conflict resolution techniques. My all time favorite book still stands to be Couple Skills by McKay, which I would rank in my top 10 most personally significant reads. Many of the tools I learned there appear again and again in other reads. Being reminded of reactive behaviors, communication traps, and emotional triggers helps me show up more fully and compassionately in my partnership. While neither of these books are stand outs, they were very quick reads with some good worksheets and tools.

Fragile Beauty | Brown Alumni Magazine

Pottery Deep Dive

As I jumped into my intro to wheel throwing class this week, I was on a huge ceramic content-consumption kick. I watched tons of youtube videos, instagram posts, articles, and books as I oriented myself to a new art medium. There is something really addictive about watching people create 3D works of art–whether miniature models, sculptures, jewelry, or pottery. Over the last year I’ve picked up miniature sculpture work with polymer clay, creating fantastical gardens.

However, the skillsets involved in ceramics is vastly larger. With tons of different clays, tools, glazes, and processes to pick from and learn, it is so easy to see how this becomes a lifelong practice of iteration. My architectural senses are prickling. I’ve already told my partner that a pottery wheel and mini kiln might be on my wish list now–as well as the need for at-home studio space! (Ah the dream).

I also have a ever growing list of ceramics projects, inspired by artists by Courtney Mattison and Stephanie Kilgast, stewing around my brain. Of course the usual practical pottery items like dishes and cups, but also the more creative and decorative including sculptural landscapes and textures that invoke nature–forest, desert, sea, sky.