Chemo Brain
15 years ago, the world as I knew it changed dramatically with the diagnosis of breast cancer. This rattled me deeply. What followed was a course of racing thoughts of what’s to come: heavy treatments to fight the disease. However, the day the doctor confirmed the diagnosis, it made my
Miss Piggybank Is Hungry
Almost everyone can remember having a piggybank of some sort, collecting loose change, pretty coins, saving up allowance, – and putting effort into occasionally trying to pry something out again. Once it was opened, the delight to sort the money by size or color, and learning the actual value of
Water World
It seems, all ways in the Pacific Northwest led to water, – dripping, flowing, deep, thundering down, sweet or salty, or as wide as the eye can see. I live on the “We(s)t Side” of Washington State, the Salish Sea and Puget Sound with all its Islands are just a
LOOSE CHANGE
Money is a matter every person touches in one way or another. Although, the “another” has become a new normal. The habits of how we pay, tip, give a gift, save up, give a donation or just handle money has changed drastically. Hardly anyone has coins or small bills to
Silk Road
For years, I’ve collected silk fabrics, – scarfs or from garments, hand-dyed or painted, gifted bits and pieces or souvenirs from travels, but the intensely two-colored Dupioni silks grabbed my heart. Every now and then, I take them out, fondle them, make color combinations and arrangements, maybe even use a
Color is about Perception
My fascination with color led me to Bauhaus designer and artist Josef Albers. He experimented extensively with the interactions of color and how the perception of them can change it. Scientists know, people perceive color differently and it changes from one person to the next. Many will remember the controversy
Smoke In The Air
Once upon a time, smoking was my habit. Hardly anyone of the people I have met over the last 24 years knows that I was once a smoker. It’s been a long time since my last cigarette, but I’ve thought many times how it was possible to stop. Not that
Das Gewohnheitstier
We humans are blessed with a unique tool to express ourselves: Language, – not only, but much of our communications are also non-verbal. Being a transplant into an area with a different language, after so many years, my own mother tongue sometimes seems strange. With the benefit of distance, I
Storm Season: The Angry Ocean
In winter, beaches in the Pacific Northwest aren’t for the faint of heart. The coastal line in Washington State is rough, much of it is pebbles or dark sand, and the water is cold. The stretches between the beaches are rocky headlands, with high cliffs and forests running almost into
Check The Box
A short time after my 18th birthday, I went to vote for the first time. I never missed an election since then, not once. How important this right had been for me hit me like a brick when I couldn’t vote after we moved to the USA. The emigration took
The Great Divide
Twenty-three years ago, I held a one-way ticket in my hand and had my mind set to make a life on the Northwest coast of the United States. Bill Clinton was still president, but impeachment hearings the year before had poisoned the political landscape. I tried to keep up with
Yellowstone
Since my Rust-Dying session last year, this gorgeous panel of big, round shapes was on my design wall and called me every day “What am I going to be?”, but muse was hiding. The algorithms of social media lately inundated me with an advertisement for “Your Photos into Digital Media”.