Quote of the Day:  Without art i choke. – Georgia Greeley

I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Georgia.  She is an artist, writer, and teacher.  We met through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) when a few people in my area were interested in forming a writer’s group.  Georgia lives in St. Paul, MN, but has a cabin on the Crow Wing River (try saying that out loud, it’s a tongue twister!), so she joined our small group.  We started meeting in the tiny town of Motley, and so named ourselves The Motley Crew.
Georgia was at the Book Arts Festival in Hackensack (isn’t that a great name for a small, rural town that holds book festivals?) this weekend.  She makes her own books, knows book binding and how to make paper.  She is multi-talented, often pairing words with her poetry, or images that match other’s poetry.  Her artwork is soothing, yet captivating.  When I was going through my major life change, divorce and moving, she gave me one of her paintings, an illustration of this poem.
Cane Holding up the World
I see the spider for what it is
Calligrapher of the invisible
Dropping from raspberry cane
To nowhere
Climbing back
To write for the night,
“You can make something from nothing.”
Plump weaver
Catching the scent of the raspberry
The waa of the catbird
Her rich web
Brushing my mind
by Nancy Walden
Georgia’s illustration has thin canes of dark, forest green, intersecting and connected by the spider and her web – the something created from nothing but imagination and sheer desire.
Georgia is the one who said to me, “Continue to do that which makes you whole.” 
If you’d like to know more about Georgia, click on her website, Artichoke Press.  Georgia created her own Walden experience by spending the month of August in her little cabin by the river, writing, relaxing, and creating.
Go, Create, Inspire!
Journaling Prompt:   Describe a gift that healed you or inspired you and the person who gave it to you.