Visual Journey 27

Honoring Our Personal Path

This week I’ve been working on creating books for the Elm City Small Press Fest coming up on November 16th. The covers are pieces of 3’x3’ canvas paintings from my final gallery series, Revelations In Color. These paintings marked an end to a seven year healing journey. During this time I created 14 series and over 1,000 works. I’m happy to see some of my favorite and most uplifting work from that time take a new form.

---

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

- Carl Jung

Carl Jung’s insight highlights the transformative power of authenticity. In a society that often promotes conformity and encourages us to wear masks and labels to fit in, his words serve as a call to embrace a freer, more genuine way of living.

Consider the weight of the masks we carry—the effort it takes to maintain a facade that aligns with the expectations of others or society. While these masks might protect us from judgment or discomfort, they also confine our true selves. They hide the unique qualities, passions, and individuality that define who we are.

Jung’s wisdom urges us to remove these masks, one by one, and embrace the light of authenticity. This is an act of self-liberation, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. By celebrating our quirks, honoring our passions, and expressing our individuality, we unlock a path to true fulfillment.

My new studio. So much gratitude to the many people who have helped me to believe that having my own space to create, separate from my home (but still close!), was the next step in my own journey of authenticity.

---

Authenticity opens the door to a life that resonates with our deepest desires and values. It empowers us to express our thoughts, feelings, and dreams without restraint. It encourages us to pursue our passions wholeheartedly and to share our unique perspectives with the world.

Real fulfillment lies in embracing our authentic selves. It’s the joy of following a career that aligns with our true interests, the satisfaction of building relationships rooted in genuine connection, and the peace that comes from living a life that is uniquely ours.

The road to authenticity is not always easy and it can be scary to tread where others have not. It seems though, that once you veer off the carved path and head into tall unmarked grasses, there is no turning back.

In a world where conformity is often the easier route, Jung’s words inspire us to choose authenticity—the path that leads to a life filled with purpose, meaning, and a profound sense of self. Becoming who we truly are isn’t just a personal achievement; it’s our gift to the world, as our most genuine selves inspire and uplift those around us. In my own experience, it is a journey worth undertaking.

Often at a low point, when life is hard and I am feeling the heaviness of all of the things, I am shown how my tiny acts have rippled out and helped people. How the courage I’ve witnessed in others has helped me to courageously venture on. In this way, the gift of authenticity is passed and so many people can benefit.

Do you have any stories to share about your own journey that could uplift and inspire someone?

Last year’s poem is becoming something.

I’ve found that leaving unfinished work to resonate is adding depth and richness that only time can offer. I’m no longer rushing through things because I need to, instead I am taking my time because I want to.

---

The Stockpile I’m Building is the writing that I created during Write ME: An Epistolary Poetry Project at The Library House in Presque Isle, Maine. This workshop was taught by Anthony Dolan Scott an educator and writer from Aroostook County, where he has lived for eighteen years, though he grew up in Louisiana. His workshop focused on the theme, Finding Light and Love in Winter. He is an inspired teacher and speaker; his poetry collection, The Year Things Came Apart, depicts his journey to finding both his voice and “home” in Northern Maine. Epistolary poems are poems that read as letters. As poems of direct address (or not), they can be intimate and colloquial or formal and measured. This style of writing felt like diving into an intimate treasure chest and listening to people read their poems was powerful and important.

*Easier-to-read version can be found at the bottom of this page.

Tassel book of collage and journal entries is a work in progress. Currently working on deciding how I want to stitch it together. Right now, it is very loosely bound with twine.

---

Finally, I am very excited to share with you that I was one of fourteen international artists chosen to be included in The 2025 Artist Almanac. The Almanac is a limited edition collage fodder calendar. Sneak peak below!

The calendar will be available for purchase on November 1st. I have 100 calendars available, limit two/person. I will send out a newsletter with the link on my website in the morning when it goes live.

Thank you for being here,

Much love,

Char

The stockpile I’m building

I carefully set your throaty laugh and rough hands into the stockpile I’m building.

I should be laying wood in stacks that won’t topple and canning vegetables for soups and stews on nights when hot meals will be a welcome reprieve from ice and wind.

But I only want you to be preserved.

I’ll toss your flannel and sleepy morning eyes in with a strong dose of sarcasm and grump. I’m writing all the stories of us in my mind-

And then I’m retelling them to myself,

To remember all the moments I’ve already forgotten.

My bones remember.

The red dust floats effortlessly in the air. We hold, grip, clasp, desperately.

Your boots have a hole starting in the bottom, but, no matter, in they go.

Next to your teeth and wool hat. In goes your camera, favorite mug and thickest socks.

You really don’t need much do you?

I’ve promised myself this winter to go easy on all of us.

Will you rest with me by the fire now?

If you enjoy my work and want to support me with a one time donation you can buy me a coffee.