Amy M. Schaefer
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From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor.  It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone!  (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)
Button Text

Time Capsule

8/27/2015

2 Comments

 
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"Ribbit", 1986, My Junior Year of High School
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"Rawr", 1986
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"Ruff", 1986
This doodling habit of mine has been picking at my brain since I wrote about it in yesterday's blog article, so I started doing some digging into my past. As I tore closets and the garage apart, I found forgotten boxes full of a dozen sketch books, art pencils, paints, post-it notes, highlighters, and a whole lot of various junk I'm saving for God knows what reason. I can't even believe most of this stuff has made it through twenty-six years of traveling all over the place! I sat in the floor and looked through all of my sketch books, most of which weren't even half full (...which tells me I draw some, lose the book, buy a new one and start over). The images on the pages were like looking at a time capsule filled with bits of flotsam from my life.

There were sketches done when I was a new bride, and when things started to go wrong, various pieces of things that made me smile or merely showed a snap shot of what was going on at the time. This artistic layer is almost like a second skin that I really was completely oblivious to. I mean, I knew I enjoyed drawing, I just didn't know that I do it all the time...like breathing.
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"Wedded Bliss", 1987, The Year I Got Married
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"The New Bride", Drawn in 1991 from a wedding photo
What does it mean? What does this say about me? I could philosophize about each penciled choice, dissecting it down to my most basic feelings and thoughts that it might represent, but where's the fun in that? I'd much rather simply post them and allow you to draw your own conclusions, or better yet, let them speak to something inside of YOU.
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"Bleed for Love", 1989
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"Lost", 1991
To my mind, that's what art is supposed to be...a means of tapping into each individual who takes it in and allows them to do whatever he or she wishes by way of internalizing meaning. As I gave myself time to consider each picture I'd drawn, I'm sure the meaning they have for me now is not the same as what was intended when I first penned them to a page. Many years of life experience separates me from the moment when they were new, and with that experience comes a new perspective, as well as an opening up of a lens that was much more narrow. Anyway, I hope you will find among my drawings something compelling, perhaps inspiring for your own life. 

Always,
A.
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"Ed's Iris", 1996
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"A Powerful Man", Drawn in 1997 from a photo taken in 1987
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"Candid Class", 2001, My First Year of Teaching
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"After Recess", 2001
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"For the Love of Books", 2001
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"A World That Makes No Sense", 2004, The Year My Husband Was in Korea
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"The Place I Long to Go", 2004
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"The Lens You Know", 2006
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"The Skin You're In", 2010, Right After I'd Completed My Master's Degree
Note: All of these pieces are my own artwork, though the first three were drawn from cartoon photos I'd found elsewhere. Copyright @ amymschaefer.com, 2015. All rights reserved.
2 Comments
Brooke Dahl
8/27/2015 06:43:50 am

Amy, these are FANTASTIC! I know we have a lot of family members who are artistically talented and super crafty, but I can't believe I didn't know you were so freakin' talented! Amazing!!!!!!

Reply
Amy M. Schaefer
8/31/2015 04:16:22 am

Thank you for that, Brooke!

Love you!

Always,
A.

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    About The Author

    I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

    Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

    What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

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  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery