2008 January : Jill Berry Blog

This is my journal page for today: a day of thinking about my friends who are fighting hard for their health, coping with loss and people who are battling for what they believe in. Hope is what keeps us sane and moving forward, and yet what is the key of it; faith, luck, fate? I [...]

The Big Store

Posted on January 26, 2008 - Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The wind is huge tonight. It is a big Man wind. Nerve twisting, large, loud wind. My daughter looks out, sees things blowing around. She disappears into the garage and returns with a flashlight headband. “I am going to find something outside worth saving.” Her hair is wild and big around her face, and her cheeks [...]

Sydney and Shakespeare

Posted on January 22, 2008 - Filed Under Written Inspiration | 2 Comments

My daughter Sydney is nine and brilliant. Lately she has been smitten with Shakespeare, and copies pithy quotes on lined paper which I find around the house. Here is one of her favorites: ‘We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.’ Lady Macbeth said that. Isn’t that a visual? “The sticking place” [...]

There is no Switzerland for Clowns

Posted on January 20, 2008 - Filed Under Visual Inspiration | 1 Comment

I have been trying to use up papers and ephemera from my studio and came across some papers I had decorated in the one scrapbooking class I took with my friend Alice. The papers were decorated in a diamond jewel tone pattern that reminded me of the circus. The circus reminded me that my mother [...]

RAEvN’s Nest Art Retreat

Posted on January 19, 2008 - Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments

One of the exciting things I will do in 2008 is teach at the RAEvN’s Nest Art Retreat. It is organized by Kim Rae Nugent, who just wrote a book for North Light that will be out in the fall. She asked me to contribute and the stakes were high! I found it challenging, scary, and delightful [...]