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May 9, 2026
In celebration of World Collage Day, annually commemorated every second Sunday in May since its inaugural debut in 2018, I gathered with four other artists to glue together different pieces of paper to make an original piece of collage art. The originator of World Collage Day, Ric Kasini Kadour, editor and founder of Kolaj magazine, states: “We created World Collage Day because we wanted to honour this community of artists and to remind the world what a spirit of cooperation, mutual support, and creativity can look like.” I am happy to participate in what Kadour describes as a democratic process where I can further the Ric’s vision of connection, cooperation, and creativity. Thank you to Ilona Isaacs for hosting this event in her art studio!
April 24, 2026
I responded to an open call for submissions to Duke Memorial Methodist Church’s request for visual and word art on the theme—Call Me Mara: A Redemptive Journey toward Environmental Justice.
I submitted a poem titled, “I Know It’s Not Enough,” about the harm we are causing to our precious earth.
On Friday evening, April 24th, my husband and I walked through the majestic Gothic Revival doors of Duke Memorial Methodist Church’s Gothic to attend the opening reception displaying selected pieces. With honor, I saw my poem presented for all to see.
April 19, 2026
I participated in the 11th Annual Shakespeare reading festival called Fairest Creatures 2026: The Sonnets of William Shakespeare. This event hosted two days of reading the 154 sonnets back- to-back.
I read Sonnet 85:
My tongue-tied muse in manners holds her still
While comments of your praise, richly compiled,
Reserve their character with golden quill
And precious phrase by all the muses filed.
I think good thoughts whilst other write good words,
And like unlettered clerk still cry amen
To every hymn that able spirit affords
In polished form of well-refinèd pen.
Hearing you praised, I say “’Tis so, ’tis true,”
And to the most of praise add something more;
But that is in my thought, whose love to you,
Though words come hindmost, holds his rank before.
Then others for the breath of words respect,
Me for my dumb thoughts, speaking in effect.
A quick summary of this poem by WilliamShakespeare.com is as follows:
Shakespeare claims his silence is more meaningful than the elaborate praise of rival poets, suggesting that true love needs no ornamented words.
Reading William Shakespeare is akin to reading a foreign language. Still, the music of his words sings through. Listening to everyone read as well as reading my own proved to be a delightful experience.
March 30-April 6, 2026
I reserved a room at the Weymouth House Writer-in-Residence program in Southern Pines, North Carolina. This was my fourth year of attending a weeklong retreat to focus on writing. The gardens and time to concentrate on word flow helps me generate poetry and creative nonfiction for future books. Every year, sometimes two times a year, I look forward to escaping from the real world.
January 29, 2026
The Women’s Club of Raleigh hosted a display of art from the Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild. Eighteen members participated. I showed a diptych, each side respectively titled: “Nine Conversations” and “Nine Lavender Dreams.” On view until February 28th, 2026.
January 21, 2026
Once I started looking, I learned about more local open mic events. Debbie Johnson hosts a live event of spoken word at Tap Yard in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her group meets every third Wednesday. I began regular attendance in January and continue to read every chance I get. After all, poetry is an oral, aural tradition.
January 14, 2026
I entered a juried online show with the Watercolor Society of North Carolina. Winners were revealed on February 1st, 2026. I did not win a prize, but I was happy to see my work alongside other watercolor artists.
January 14, 2026
I discovered an open mic event that takes place in Cary, North Carolina. Cary On Poetry Open Mic is hosted by Klaus Theis every second Wednesday of the month. This is a small, intimate, group of polished readers. Klaus allows poets to sign up to read and asks that we limit our time to three poems or five minutes. On this occasion, I got to read and record my poem, “All My Life I’ve Hungered for a Pretty Singing Voice.” I read two other poems, “Comparing Galaxies,” and “In a Whirlwind.”
All My Life, I’ve Hungered for a Pretty Singing Voice
I close my eyes and imagine
the year is 1934.
Those Gibbons men:
Charlie, Cliff, Steven, Alton,
all together in that Alabama backwaters
cabin near the Bartlett’s Ferry Dam.
A single lightbulb hangs
from the ceiling,
incandescent golden-yellow
ribbons stream across
the wooden floor.
I smell battered frying fish,
caught earlier in the day
by those men casting cane poles
along the banks
of the Chattahoochee.
Women folk cook hushpuppies,
French fries, and fish, enough to feed
a Jesus crowd. The laughing gets louder
as they drink bottle after bottle
of iced down Berger Beer.
I see those brothers
who once played in honky-tonks,
brawled in bars,
came home drunk
singing and snoring in their sleep
until their wives put a stop
to their carousing.
I hear them singing House of the Rising Sun.
That’s Grandaddy Alton strumming an acoustic guitar
and singing lead like he always does,
Steven harmonizing and thrumming
his guitar too. Cliff bends those fiddle
strings into the mournful ballad,
as Charlie plucks the mandolin.
I close my eyes and wish
my Grandaddy Alton
had lived past my first birthday.
He would have taught me to play the six string,
trained my tone-deaf ears to sing in tune,
coached my voice into a honeyed soprano.
December 11, 2025
Poet-Tea hosted by Knightdale Public Library in Wake County North Carolina. A casual gathering of poets in the area. Each person at the table read their poems in rotation.
November 24, 2025
Open Mic reading at Lucky Tree.
For the Suggestion Box
Detection should be simpler.
I propose a collaboration
between canaries and breasts
where they reside in symbiosis.
Those yellow birds nesting
among the ribs
beneath the breasts
coexisting in their dwelling
living together in peace
provided the cells remain
free of radicals and lumps
each gambling on the other
Once the first rabid cell attempts division,
the canaries simply fly out screeching an alarm.
August 10, 2016
The Carolina Mixed Media Artists Guild is an artistic enclave dedicated to increasing the awareness of and enthusiasm for mixed media arts and artisans. This interview gives some insight into my artistic beginnings.
Featured Artist Interview by Carolina Mixed Media Artists Guild