Letter from the Editor

I found a quote that read “August is when laziness finds respectability.” I speak from an American experience, born in the “south” and now a “Yankee.” August means higher temps, not much rain and no one over the age of 10 moves very quickly – or is expected to do so. August is also a month of high emotion. For kids, August is full of summer vacations, fireflies and s’mores but a return to dreaded school looms in the not-too-distant future. For adults with kids, the coming month marks major milestone of time, whether your child is just beginning school, or going away to college. It’s a month of anticipation of the adventure of life ahead but the present has a definite expiration date. So August is the time we eke out the memories from our collective “mulberry days.” Focus is on FUN and, for now, we do our best to press pause on thoughts of the future.

Both of our featured artists this month say they use their art as a means toward joy, whether that joy comes from an ego boost or being able to express in images what can’t be expressed in words. Silivren says that her photography is therapeutic, and M8ty discusses a beautiful photo that he created to mourn a personal loss. They both have this beautiful talent/gift/ability not only to communicate emotion but to invite us to identify with their human experience. Life is often considered a journey we travel alone, but
art – in all forms – reminds us that we are in this together.

And that sentiment perfectly segues into announcing our newest gallery (#3) called “Exploratorium of Art.” We all labored over a word to describe what we dreamt this gallery to be, and Patrick offered that word at about 3am, not expecting it to go anywhere, as he had suggested about 200 others by then. But I said “Yes. That’s it!” and the Exploratorium was coined. The artwork displayed will be meant to explore, study, enjoy, and spark conversation.

This is a very special issue. Please enjoy!