Events of the past two years were life-altering enough that whatever artistic “voice” I had went silent and I really didn’t know what to do to get things going again. When I tried to make something, it might be superficially appealing, but to me felt emotionally inert. Most of the time I couldn’t even think of any subject matter that interested me.

In the past if I was stuck, drawing could sometimes take me back to a reset point from which I could start to move again. This time it felt like a complete reboot might be needed and I decided to take a beginning drawing class at a local tech school that offers continuing education classes at night.

The last real drawing I did was working on the illustrations for A Star Out of Orbit, my Dad’s Christmas story. It was certainly a labor of love, but took me a year, was a drawing style that didn’t flow naturally for me, and by the end I was tired of drawing and also felt I’d hit the limits of my training or ability. I felt like I needed to grow drawing-wise, but didn’t know how; another good reason to start at the beginning and see if perhaps a good teacher could help me lose some bad drawing habits I’d developed and reach new levels.

Concurrent with all this, two months ago I went running up a steep flight of stairs in my house carrying an armful of stuff, not holding onto the railing, and wearing a long dress. As I neared the top of the stairs, I tripped on my skirt and fell all the way down. I fractured my C1 vertebrae and a rib and cut about a 4″ gash in my leg that required stitches. The rib and cut healed quickly, but I have to wear a cervical collar for probably about 12 weeks. I am extremely lucky my injuries weren’t even worse and didn’t require surgery. However, the collar is miserably uncomfortable and I have to wear it 24/7, even to sleep and shower. I’m not allowed to drive, lift anything heavier than ten pounds, bend over or turn my head beyond the limitations of the collar. All this is to provide some background for the self-portrait you see on this page.

To get to the point (there really IS a point) I have been taking Drawing 1 at Keefe at Night from a wonderful teacher, Terri Regotti and I am drawing again and loving it – and have thoughts for about eight potential projects I’d like to draw.

If there is any advice to be gleaned from my experience, I guess it’s that if you’re experiencing a creative block, pick something you have loved to do in the past and force yourself to start at the beginning. I don’t recommend flinging yourself down a flight of stairs in conjunction with that, but having your options extremely limited for a little while may help you focus on the things that matter most.