Hope

Peace

Honor Thyself

I once read a comment by Miles Davis, who once said that your home should be filled with the things you love, all the beauty it will possibly hold. That statement was a bolt of lightning to me, because I had always regarded home in a more utilitarian light. Viscerally, I understood that he was exactly right, because home is a refuge, a sanctuary from the onslaught of indignities that is “life.”

Around the same time, I was studying at Buffalo State College, and Dr. Joan Roberts, in an “Intro to Poetry” class, exhorted all of us to honor our work. To be serious about it, keep a notebook; don’t be quick to discard the things we were displeased with, be patient with ourselves, and revel in the process of learning. Another thunderbolt for me. It is not possible to build a healthy sense of self and relative surety in the world if I fail to honor myself and my efforts.

In 1988 I began painting and writing poetry and making better photographs, and these influences moved me to begin taking all of those efforts seriously for the first time. And with the idea of creating art for my living space - art that is both soliloquy and solace.

Lantern