Image credit: Michael Mundy, 1 st Dibs “…That mezzanine was created because this area flooded entirely with [Hurricane] Sandy. So, we got hit with about six feet of water,” says artist Ray Smith in a New York Times interview.   Excerpt from NYTimes article :   “The walls are built like I think probably like at least a foot off the ground because we knew that this place could flood, from day one. But [Hurricane]Sandy just completely overwhelmed us. The water started piling up

Image credit: Gina Greenlee, silken blue and pink floral handbag Use this purse-inspired step-by-step template  as a writing prompt.   ◊ ◊ ◊   What’s the Point, of Purse Prompts, You Ask? Fun way to fill a blank page. Blank pages keep folks from starting projects. You are getting your “reps” in, working and strengthening a muscle of getting started and getting on with it. With more reps, each time you work the muscle the lift gets easier. For writers, the art of noticing is l

Listen to Jayne Cortez , renowned jazz poet spit “You Know” and “There It Is,” live  at the San Francisco Poetry Center, 1985. In addition to publishing a number of collections , Jayne released several recordings throughout her lifetime, many of which feature her band, the Firespitters. ◊ ◊ ◊   Listen and Read   Bernice Johnson Reagon Listener ◊ ◊ ◊   Toni Morrison Listener ◊ ◊ ◊   Chris Cooper Reader ◊ ◊ ◊   Leonard Cohen Reader ◊ ◊ ◊   Gloria Steinem Reader ◊ ◊ ◊   Tom Robb

Mixed media artist Yemonja Smalls says, “What’s fun about working in wood, especially in setting it up, is things move around. You know, you might set it one way and then shift by accident, touch it, nip it on the end of the table, and things start shifting around and it’s still beautiful. “My process is really about taking something that’s solid – could be a print with beautiful flowers on it – and then taking it apart, deconstructing it. The process is therapeutic for me. I

Image credit: Gina Greenlee, Shoulder Purse with Quarter-Sized Sequins Use this purse-inspired step-by-step template  as a writing prompt.   ◊ ◊ ◊   What’s the Point of Purse Prompts, You Ask? Fun way to fill a blank page. Blank pages keep folks from starting projects. You are getting your “reps” in, working and strengthening a muscle of getting started and getting on with it. With more reps, each time you work the muscle the lift gets easier. For writers, the art of noticing

Image Credit: Anas Alhajj at Unsplash Image Credit: CovantNYC at Pixabay Image Credit: Glasses Shop at Pixabay Image Credit: JDaley at Pixabay Image Credit: Leroy Skalstad, Pixabay Image Credit: Leroy Skalstad, Pixabay Image Credit: Pexels on Pixabay Image Credit: Pixabay Image Credit: Brave Pictures, Unsplash Image Credit: Leroy Skalstad, Pixabay Image Credit: Meso Today, Pixabay Image Credit: Kaysha at Unsplash Image Credit: Kingsley Osei-Abrah, Unsplash Image Credit: Pixab

Image Credit: Lisa Marie, Unsplash Image Credit: Alisa Dyson, Pixabay Image Credit: Alisa Dyson, Pixabay Image Credit: Gabbyola, Unsplash Image Credit: Kingsley, Unsplash Image Credit: Baptista, Unsplash Image Credit: Eris Colors, Pixabay Image Credit: Eris Colors, Pixabay Image Credit: Gideon Hezekiah, Unsplash Image Credit: Good Faces, Unsplash Image Credit: Belinda Amoah, Unsplash Image Credit: Graca Assane, Unsplash Image Credit: Inno Joseph, Unsplash Image Credit: Jabari

Image credit: Gina Greenlee, paint, ink, marker, collage An excerpt from Free Play, Improvisation in Life and Art  by Stephen Nachmanovitch: “I have never ceased to be astounded at the power of writing, music making, drawing, or dance to pull me out of sadness, disappointment, depression, bafflement. I am not talking about entertainment or distraction, but of playing, dancing, drawing, writing my way through and out. This process resembles the best in psychotherapy. We don’t

Image credit: Gina Greenlee, Pinterest Mary said, “you need grounding before you take this big trip around the world .” So, she coached me to “create-destroy-recreate” art pieces for 30 consecutive days in the months leading up to the trip. Minimal instruction, no elaborate context, only “ Try it and see what happens. ” Image credit: Gina Greenlee, quick fashion magazine collage Always playing with art , I was open to possibility in the moment without having to know what came

Image Credit: Gina Greenlee, paint, ink, collage For more of my take on growing up on New York City’s Lower East Side: Black and Blintzes: Growing Up Not Quite Jewish on the Lower East Side Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments in New York Hush Life, a novel No Tears for Frankie: A Memoir on the Life of an Essay     ◊ ◊ ◊ Take a YouTube tour of my hometown. The background song is the 1977 hit Native New Yorker , performed by Odyssey . The lyrics, shared in this

Image credit: Gina Greenlee, paint and ink   An excerpt from Free Play, Improvisation in Life and Art  by Stephen Nachmanovitch: “Precisely because the standing of posterity is so tenuous, art is now more relevant than it has ever been. And again, I mean not just art but artfulness: playfulness, seriousness, connectedness, structure, wholeness and heart… “…This means an explosion of creativity into areas of life where it has been largely excluded. Looking at international pol

DANCERS Image credits: digital collage narrative, Gina Greenlee ORIGINS Image credits: analog painted book pages, Gina Greenlee

FLIGHT TRANSITION DIVE SOAR ◊ ◊ ◊ ABSTRACTION ORIGINS How painted book pages take flight. Image credits: painted collage narrative, Gina Greenlee

African American Studies Professor Dr. Daniel Black treated graduates to an EXPERIENCE  at the 2024 Spring Commencement Ceremonies at Clark Atlanta University.

Image credit: Spontaneous Lizard Collage by Gina Greenlee

◊ ◊ ◊ Hoist that Rag ◊ ◊ ◊ Such a Scream ◊ ◊ ◊ Telephone Call from Istanbul ◊ ◊ ◊ I Don’t Wanna Grow Up   ◊ ◊ ◊ Frank’s Wild Years   ◊ ◊ ◊

Image credit: English Major Humor Blog Post ◊ ◊ ◊   Fun with Free Magazines   Play! Children’s Art Books   Practicing Enough: The Ride Level Up Your Reading with these Prompts   Read Widely   Golf, Bob Dylan, and How to Lead

Image credit: Eben Illingworth on Pintrest

“Equipment breaks down, it is Sunday night, the stores are all closed, and the audience is arriving in an hour. You are forced to do a little bricolage, improvising some new and crazy contraption. Then you attain some of your best moments. Ordinary objects or trash suddenly become valuable working materials, and your perceptions of what you need and what you don’t need radically shift. Among the things I love so much about performing are those totally unforeseen, impossible c