From Lynda’s Journal

Relics

by Lynda McKinney Lambert

 

Featured Poem:

“Relics”

 

Solo Exhibition 2011

Merrick Art Gallery

ecstatic chatter  – full house

friends – family – patrons

line up to acquire my gems

platters – vases – jewelry

relics from my heart

–

©Lynda McKinney Lambert, 2024.

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Backstory

Does every artwork have  a historical context?

Consider this question and  you might unlock  a memory of something you were doing at one time, that  brought you to what you are doing today.

The Present:

In January 2024, I  began making art on Post Cards.

I send a postcard 6 days a week to fellow author and artist,  Carol Farnsworth

Carol  is making art on post cards, too.
Carol sends me one postcard  a day, six days a week.

Why?

This is Part #1, of a long process of making art, and writing a poem for each post card, for this entire year.  This was Carol’s idea for us to do a collaboration, and I thought it was a great idea.

YES!

It’s a big job. But, somebody has to do it!

We are now into our final quarter of making and sending the cards.
I can’t believe we are almost at that finishing line for Part #1 of our ambitious endeavor. But, we are!

We love sharing our project with friends who are interested in art and poetry.

 

 

This photo is featured on the  October 11, 2024 post card I sent to Carol yesterday.  The poem, “Relics,”  written for this card.

Visit Carol’s website Here!

Please come back occasionally and see where we are in our project over the next year. We appreciate your  feedback, and please pray for us as we continue to do the work necessary.

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This photo shows a ceramic sculpture I made for a solo exhibition in 2011,  at Merrick Art Gallery after losing my sight.

What an exciting event for me and for those who came to the opening and visited the show during the month-long exhibition.

My  journey into making art as a blind person (pottery and Mixed-media fiber art)

dates from 2008 to 2024. But this year, there is something NEW.

In 2024,  I began to paint again!

This post card collaboration  with Carol gave me the courage to “try it again.,”

 

Looking back, I realize how The Merrick Art Gallery gave me a first  gift of  affirmation  after sight loss in 2011.

It was a night to remember, as my work was selling, and the gallery was buzzing with friends and patrons who came to celebrate with me. I continue on my mission of making art to share with the world, through my art and my poetry. I’ve published 5 books since I lost my sight and I continue to show my art nationally.

This month, my art was accepted into the InSights Art Exhibition at Louisville, KY.

Carol attended the festivities and you can read about her experience on her blog today Read it here!

 

This quote, below, is meaningful to me:

“a single picture is  worth a thousand words – as the saying goes.”

I had a flashback recently about earlier times.

I remembered that I made paintings on  post cards in 1988 when I had a fellowship  at  The Hambidge Center  in Rabun Gap, Georgia.  I did it as a warm-up exercise to begin my day of painting. I also had to work on projects that would fit in my car for the trip home when I departed for the long drive back to western Pennsylvania.

This memory came to me and I realized recently that  have painting on post cards since August 1988, at the Hambidge Center. They have been in juried exhibitions and sold very well over the years.

THIRTY-ONE  YEARS…

painting post card sized work  during the summer months as I traveled abroad in addition to that fellowship here in the US.  WOW – that is amazing.   Little by little it all comes sifting back to me  . I am certain, now, that 1988 would have been my first time to  use Strathmore cards, in Georgia.

Do you find yourself doing anything in your own artwork hat dates back to another time or place?

 

Lynda

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Blessings and

GOOD NEWS!

 

“Blessings”  often arrive in my rural mail box at River Road Studio!

Blessings arrive  through my computer when readers leave me a comment or reflection.

Blessings can be  financial gifts  that I did not know were coming to me, or when someone buys a book or a work of art from me.

Blessings are days when I can go out to lunch with a friend, or simply  go a walk every day with my dog, Miss Mitchell. I also love working in my flower gardens in the warmer months.

Blessings come to us all the time if we are open to them. Like the little bird chirping outside my dark window this morning. It’s a gift and a reminder that God is always  near.

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©Lynda McKinney Lambert, October 12, 2024. All rights reserved.

 

Photo: Courtesy of Allauthor. Thankk you!

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