“Now I am a woman again – as I always am when I write.”
– Virginia Woolf, Diary, 31 May 1929
Do you identify as a creative woman? In all the unique ways women express themselves through words and art, universal identities arise:
I am a writer. I am a musician. I am an artist. I am a benefactor ….
Our claimed identities connect, forming a net, a collective expression of who we are and what we call ourselves.
You are invited to share your “I Am” identity when you submit your own creative response to the featured Q, so that we may gather the widest truth possible across the terrain of modern-day creative women.
Submit your creative response here.
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Patricia Anne Corriz, Jayashree Krishnan, Hélène Cardona, and Beth Surdut shared their claimed identities and submitted creative words and art in response to the featured Q. You are invited to read their full works here.
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Born and raised in Santa Fe New Mexico, my greatest desire was to be an artist since the age of 5. Having sold my paintings at The Santa Fe Fiesta, a workshop with the Santa Fe 400, my confidence was given through AROHO, who first displayed my artwork on their gallery.
Who Am I as a Creative Woman?
By Patricia Anne Corriz (Panne Winterbird)
Who Am I as a creative woman?
I ask myself
As I look up to the skies and
See a gallery of unpainted pictures
And stories that are yet to be told.
Although I look up and see
The Greatest Story ever told
Written across a Heavenly canvas.
Creation.
Who Am I as a creative woman?
My painted skies
The stories I tell
And the many sighs
That get me through the process.
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I was born and raised in India in a very spiritual family. I learned and studied Sanskrit and philosophy through college. I moved to the US when I was 21 and studied/taught Mathematics. 3 years ago, I quit the job to become a full time artist.
“I Am Not My Body” by Jayashree Krishnan
“I Am Not My Body,” art submitted in The Q by Jayashree Krishnan
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Greek, Spanish, French and American, the daughter of immigrants and an immigrant myself, I speak six languages. With a masters from the Sorbonne and fellowships from the Goethe-Institut and Universidad international de Andalucía. I taught at LMU and Hamilton College. I’m a poet, actor and translator, author of seven books.
“A Mind Like Lightning” by Hélène Cardona
Stars scribble in our eyes the frosty sagas,
the glowing cantos of unvanquished space. – Hart Crane
Without gravity
I fly into a thousand pieces,
add sparkle to various reflections –
fallen stars, colliding lights –
transform particles, waves, and dark matter.
I become ocean, mercury, silver
shimmers, fairy tales, fascinated.
The strangeness of this atmosphere
seduces, shifts consciousness,
shapes bloodstreams,
provokes a rush.
Let the next dimension pull you,
lightning-mind, prosperous poet,
duelist without a fight.
Let the lake talk, embrace it.
From Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry)
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I am a wildlife illustrator and storyteller, creating the illustrated nature radio series The Art of Paying Attention. Twenty episodes aired on NPR.
“Good morning, mountain” by Beth Surdut
“Good morning, mountain,” photography by Beth Surdut, The Q
Good morning, mountain.
On the rare mornings I awake to this mountain’s disappearing act,
we share a secret: We exist whether you see us, or not.
And should I ever somehow forget joy,
the hummingbirds remind me.
And should I ever somehow forget love,
the cat sits on my chest and licks my face.
And should I ever forget camaraderie,
my old friends knock on the door of my heart.
And should I ever forget why I exist ,
my creativity says, “I am the mountain.”
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To find out about Gifts of Fellowship, read here.
