Great Minds Think Alike
I am participating once again in the Studio 402 Self Portrait Exhibit at the Anderson Arts Building. So for the last couple of months I have been trying to decide what I would do this year. The theme was “Hello Again.” But all I can think about is how crazy 2022 was for me.
My dog Abbie had some serious surgery to remove a malignant cancer on her hind leg in the early spring of 2022. She was 14 and recovered well until she suffered a series of seizures. Quite a scary thing to witness if you have never seen a dog having a seizure before. I thought she was dying right before my eyes. But being the ever-resilient Abbie, she bounced back from several days of seizures and was even able to gradually stop the anti-seizure medications. She was fully recovered by June and able to accompany us for a week at Keuka Lake. We had a wonderful summer with Abbie. But over Labor Day weekend, while in Cleveland visiting Jeff’s 92-year-old mother, Abbie’s stomach suddenly bloated and we had to say goodbye to her. If you ever met Abbie, you know how full of life she was. Absolutely the smartest dog we ever had. She could open doors and backyard gates. She lived for 14 1/2 years, quite unusual for a Weimaraner. So needless to say, we were devastated by the loss.
Oh but 2022 wasn’t through with us yet. After a fun two weeks of Fringe Festival and a visit from our dear friend Karen, we felt as though life was getting back to normal. But the night before Karen was to return home, I started coughing and thought I was coming down with seasonal allergies. Nope! After avoiding Covid for 2 years, I tested positive. After a round of Paxlovid, I felt much better and tested negative, only to relapse in several days for yet another week of isolation. Fortunately both Karen and Jeff never caught the virus from me. Although Jeff also had Covid for the first time in May after a radio conference in Philadelphia. I did not go along because I was home nursing Abbie back to good health.
But fortunately I recovered from Covid and tested negative again just in time to leave for a previously planned vacation at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This vacation was a plan to help us relax and recover a little from the pandemic and our recent loss. And the plan worked. We came home rested and ready for the holidays. But 2022 still wasn’t done with us.
Five days after we returned home, we got a call from Jeff’s brother. His mom was in the hospital. She had suffered a massive stroke. So we packed again and headed to Cleveland for what we expected to be a few days. The few days turned into over 2 weeks, as my mother-in-law ended up unable to swallow and not wanting a feeding tube, went into hospice and eventually passing away.
So we returned to Rochester, heads spinning, to face the holidays. While I was trying to come up with an idea for my quilted self portrait in December, I suddenly decided it had to be a crazy quilt. And since I love machine quilting and it’s my favorite step in the quiltmaking process, I decided to machine quilt my image over a crazy quilt. The thought being: my image with the crazy behind me.
But here’s the funny thing. After dropping off my self portrait quilt at Studio 402, later that evening I get a text from Nancy Valle. Seems Jeanne Simpson had practically the same idea for her self portrait. Only for her self-portrait she machine quilted her image on one of her specially hand-dyed discharge fabrics. And another friend, Martha O’Connor, also machine quilted her image, but on a sleeve of a handmade “Hamilton-inspired” jacket. None of us have seen each other recently or even discussed what our plans were for the self-portrait show. My only reaction: “Great minds think alike!”
You can visit this amazing exhibit featuring 63 local artists which runs January 6 - February 11 at Studio 402 in the Anderson Arts Building. The exhibit will be open to the public by appointment or on the following dates:
Opening Reception, First Friday, January 6, 6 - 9 p.m.
Second Saturday, January 14, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
First Friday, February 3, 6 - 9 p.m.
Second Saturday, February 11, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.