For months Emily has been showing me the collages she’s been making at least once a day since the shutdown in March, during our weekly Zoom Studio Visits.
This is the first time I saw some of them in person.
We met this morning at the Left Back Gallery where some of Emily’s collages are hanging in a show called Contagion about the Corona Virus.
We were the only ones there, and we got to look at all the art and talk about it with each other.
Seeing Emily’s collages hanging in a grid on the wall put them in context. Like a calendar of feelings, they convey the power of art to bring color, joy, and a sense of peace to a dark time.
My brain automatically started putting them together like a puzzle matching colors, shapes, and lines, each one informing the next.
After leaving the gallery we took a walk around town. We talk on Zoom and dance together in Bellydancing Class (although now that has moved to Zoom too), but we don’t get to talk in person, and these days, that is a very special thing when it happens.
I remember from last year that the days before Thanksgiving are quiet ones for me. Although this year is different, people are generally busy preparing for the holiday. And because Jon and I tend to spend it with just each other it is quiet and restful for us.
I haven’t participated in the holidays in a traditional way for years. But I do like finding my own way to celebrate them. And spending time with people who are important to me is one of the things I like to do.
So getting together with Emily today made it feel like my Thanksgiving has already begun.
Emily’s art comes in many forms, including ready to hang collages on wood, bird brooches, and collage cards. You can see them all and buy them on her website papercakescissors.com, just click here.
You can also follow Emily’s art on Instagram. Right now she’s using collage to tell the story of Hansel and Gretel from the Witch’s point of view. You can see it here.
