But my thesis advisor's complete reworking of her website (on which she features & explains the origins of one of my cartoons) has inspired me to get my cyberspace act together. So here goes.
To make up for ignoring this blog and turning to the oh-so-easy and seductive Facebook (on which you can become a fan!) I am announcing a few news items here exclusively.
1. My new pet. Her name is Sally. Sally Mander. She's actually a green anole, also known as a chameleon. See below for evidence of her color changing talent - in the first photo she is clearly green, in the second, brown. A friend found her in his downtown law office on the windowsill, as unlikely as that sounds. His young daughter, Sally, named her. Our working hypothesis is that Sally Mander came in on a rental plant.
Alice seems to be managing her jealousy just fine.
2. Hospital Art. Thanks to Esther and LBD Fine Art, Several pieces from the Chicago Memories Series will hang in Lutheran General Hospital's new pediatric unit. We also provided pages for the kids to color. As a nurse, this is a special thrill. Next week Esther is going to show me the pieces in situ. I'll be sure to post photos. (Here and Facebook, I promise.) Check out a sample coloring page:
3. My first giant roadsign. A commission in Union Pier, Michigan has produced wonderful results on the Red Arrow Highway. All the best to Nessa in her new business venture. If you're in the area, stop in and tell her how much you like the sign. And buy a sandwich or something.
4. The thesis. I didn't talk too much about graduate school while I was in it (wait, that's right! It's not just Facebook's fault that this blog has been lame!) but it is officially over. For now. I've gotten an MA in Medical Humanities and Bioethics from Northwestern. Well, I don't officially have the degree. I skipped graduation so I'm waiting for the paper to come in the mail. But I am using the new letters after my name in my email signature.
As my thesis, I conducted an oral history of the AIDS unit at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where I worked as a nurse for six years. Doing an oral history has been such a rewarding process, and the histories I've collected are so compelling, that I'm currently working on turning my thesis into a larger project. Stay tuned for details and updates on where that process takes me. This is the biggest chunk of what I'm working on this summer.
Grad school was really great. I can honestly say that every one of my professors were (and are) incredibly warm, kind, fun, smart, and supportive of my work as an artist.
For example, I was encouraged to present not just one Powerpoint presentation on comics in the the Medical Humanities, but two. And not just about all of the incredible medically-related comics that are out there, like Brian Fies' Mom's Cancer, or Marissa Acocella Marchetto's Cancer Vixen, I was encouraged to present my work and my thoughts on how making comics helps me to think through the experience of being a caregiver. I have been so fortunate to study with these great professors: Tod Chambers, Alice Dreger, Catherine Belling, Katie Watson, Kathryn Montgomery and Gretchen Case. Google any of them and you will find the interesting, challenging, multi-disciplinary work for which each of them is very well known.
That's a lot of news, right? I'm trying to make up for lost time and hope to not neglect the blog again. Thanks for continuing to check in here and be well.
