Are You a Serious Artist?

Recently, I was listening to a young artist describe his approach to his work, and it all sounded so familiar. Emerging artists get caught up in the “romance” of their art. In their determination to be seen as “serious artists,” they embrace dark and heavy topics; they question whether drugs or alcohol will help them...

I’ll Sing it My Way

The other day I learned that I’ve been singing the lyrics to a song incorrectly for, like, most of my life. The song is from the musical South Pacific, and I always thought the words were, “You’ve got to have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come...

Operating on “Artist Time”

The other day, I had scheduled a mid-morning coffee with a friend. I did my exercises first and checked e-mail, leaving myself a full hour to get ready. But sometime during that designated time, my creative mind decided to take a walk. I wound up spending twice as long in the shower as I intended...

Raising Myself

My daughter’s been waiting for this post for a long time. I keep threatening to write about how odd it is to be “raising myself.”  Given that tomorrow is Mother’s Day, this seems the perfect time to explore this. It’s not just that my daughter is following in my footsteps and seeking a career in...

A Little Class, Please

My daughter wants to be an actor. The other night, we were watching an interview with a movie star on one of those late-night TV shows. Out walks this girl, dressed to the nines, who proceeds to tell a story about throwing up. I turned to my daughter and said, “Promise me that if you...

When Artists Dream

When my husband has a nightmare, it goes something like this: he is chased by a bear. When I have a bad dream, it plays out like this: I’m the wife of some Viking-like chieftain, but he is gone, and the neighboring tribe is preparing to invade. My eldest son is not up to the...

I Feel Pretty

When I was a kid, my dad used to sing the song “I Feel Pretty” from the movie West Side Story. Yes, my dad. When I was little, I thought the song was about this hopelessly stuck-up girl who liked to brag about her good looks. Catchy tune or not, I couldn’t understand why he...

Pie in the Sky Hopes

When I was a kid, I used to sit on the back porch step and sing at the top of my lungs the lyrics to Frank Sinatra’s song, “High Hopes.” Just what did make that ant think he could move that rubber tree plant?  I had no idea what inspired his crazy dream, but I...