Originally posted to FB 1/7/2021
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #PhillyArtist
#SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD

Anyone else a little flummoxed by planning 2021? I know life is *always* uncertain, but...yeesh. How are you navigating this? How do you make plans around everything that's unknowable right now?

Originally posted to FB 10/4/2020
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #PhillyArtist
#SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD

The world is so freaking overwhelming right now - it's not just me, right? Like this past week, FFS, I don't even know what to say about it. Right? I feel like we're all slogging up a really steep, rocky incline. I keep looking up and out to orient myself to the larger landscape & to gauge the topography, and then staring determinedly back down at my feet for a bit, thinking only of putting one foot in front of the other - because if I spend too much time thinking about how steep the damned hill is, it's too much & I lose the will for it. And I guess the future is like a path with a lot of switchbacks where, no matter how hard we look, it's impossible to know exactly where it will lead, or exactly how far along we are. The future is obscured by trees. /1

https://www.patreon.com/posts/focusing-on-my-27906415?fbclid=IwAR06KY2Nu89qn5GDkFoozp5pLxxPPr9lp_onbS4D-ISnm_YUHvbtopu2aEo

Originally posted to FB 12/30/2019
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Basho #PhillyArtist #patreon
#SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD

It's a strange new world for me, since my stepdad Jim West died on November 1st. I'm suddenly not only in contact with my mom again - I see her several times a week. Weirder still? This feels, so far, like an unexpected gift. It's exhausting, but mostly I really enjoy our time together. I just wish my disabilities didn't make all of this so much harder. Every day, I wish I had more energy. Maybe someday I'll figure this out so I can have balance instead of just a dry mouthful of desperate wishes. But it is what it is.
/1

https://www.patreon.com/posts/with-dementia-on-32641316?fbclid=IwAR2hZlcQBLGt2tTEW0eun-WoFaJn3ibZolSrbU9WcR_HjhhAV1lUtB1EdIY

Originally posted to FB 12/10/2020
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Basho #PhillyArtist #patreon
#SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD
Okay so life is a mess, that's usually true for me, really struggling, etc. ad nauseum - but let me tell you about THIS AWESOME FUN THING I AM DOING! I'm taking a poetry comics workshop with Comics by David Lasky online via Push/Pull. And OMG I'm in heaven with this class. It's that deeply nourishing sense of getting exactly what I need at exactly the right moment to push my art forward.
This was done lightning-fast, just a rough sketch for one of the exercises - but I'm just so proud to be *doing* it, you know? Not fussing, just doing.
So. A poem by Basho, in comics form - click to read:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/poetry-comics-44714871?fbclid=IwAR0jN5aIF5xj8xVgWaqxaGwVj9QIc-coE-KY7kqIsYkpxhiTHd8IJi95HyU

#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Patreon #SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD #ADHD

This is pretty much my life in a nutshell. Hopefully you can't relate! But if you do, well...solidarity, my friend. I salute you, and offer virtual hugs if you want one.
This is a pretty rough first sketch, & probably a WIP - there's more to say about this dilemma and the feelings it stirs up. But I also kinda like it as-is! So I figured I'd share what I've got so far. If it turns into something more, I'll show you that later.
There's a very short post that goes along with this on Patreon - you can see that here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/priorities-comic-75510592
...Mostly I just described it a bit in case you can't read my handwriting. You can also find a more precise description below.
❤

Originally posted to FB 11/1/2020
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #birds #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Patreon #SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bird-drawing-are-42599341?fbclid=IwAR0gpHrZdwp61233sr9m6iCTrIYrMCETyr8oQnnfG_v30TQy_nOuOWVl4Fw

The universe keeps handing me opportunities to draw birds - this time via a really cool workshop by Gary Bloomfield of Bloomfield Studio, via Redwood Region Audubon Society (RRAS). Huge thanks to artist & longtime friend Erica Babad for telling me about it!
If you're not familiar with Gary Bloomfield's work, you really really need to check him out at Bloomfield Studio! So gorgeous, & so lively. I could get lost in all the fine details. OMG so amazing. ❤

Originally posted to FB 11/11/2021
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Patreon #SupportArtists #PTSD #CPTSD

https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-poetry-44280711

It's so odd to look at this poetry comic I made last autumn. It's shocking to me, in a dull kind of way, how many things are more or less the same - at least when it comes to social distancing & feeling safe in public spaces. I'm glad I didn't know it would still be this hard a year later - but the fact that it is forces me to consider the possibility that I might still have to live with some version of social distancing this time next year. And that being quite possible, how do I want to shape my life? In a lot of ways, I'm still figuring out how to hunker down for the long haul while still having a life and relationships.

Originally posted to FB 9/20/2020
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Patreon #SupportArtists #memory #MeToo #PTSD #CPTSD

I'm finding it's super-helpful to visualize one's internal demons, critics, helpers, and hurting parts. It's also a hell of a lot more fun than just solemn navel-gazing. And, bonus points, sometimes getting it out on paper really helps get it off my chest - even if it's just a goofy doodle of a monster.
This one comes with some art activities for helping kids talk about their feelings, and also some art activities for learning & thinking critically about all the different cultural imagery around us. Art is such a great tool for really interacting and engaging with ideas instead of just reading about them.
Please feel free to share, especially if you know folks with kids at home who are looking for things to do with them. 😊

https://www.patreon.com/posts/monica-monster-41822905?fbclid=IwAR1qP1_oIwd2QAgVPb51LQMdigoAKwwk73DOhdrlr2cSwm2s-fOsSWGyYSA

Originally posted to FB 8/17/2021
#comics #poetry #PoetryComics #ComicsPoetry #art #trauma #TraumaHealing #ArtHeals #HealingThroughArt #HealingThroughComics #HealingThroughPoetry #Patreon #SupportArtists #memory #MeToo #PTSD #CPTSD

Woohoo, I finally finished this poetry comic! Here's the poem by itself, in case that's helpful:

Unraveling Time

Is time truly a one-way street?
Then to now, a flow of actions and emotions, unraveling backwards now to then
Noon receding into dawn, the setting and then the rising of the moon,
A question now - which might be 2012, or 2017, or 2021 - only answerable in 1989, or maybe 1986 ...or was it 1973 - ?
I race to keep pace, but catch only glimpses -
memory a bobbing head on the water
disappearing from view.

I'm really proud of how this came out. Whaddya think?

(If you wanna read more about the process of going from the initial sketch to the finished comic below, you can read that on Patreon - I've published it publicly at https://www.patreon.com/posts/poetry-comic-54613349.)