This Issue: Practice!

Camp Goldston Publishing, LLC
6 hours ago
2 min read

How much practice does an artist need to hone their skills? Is it just practice, or is it a practice? If it's the latter, it suggests intentional diligence focused on achieving a goal. Our featured image shows Solomon Awofadeju working on a powerful piece from a series in this issue of Garden Spices. It all began where every practice starts—with vision.

As several contributors note, the practice becomes habitual; it does not stop even in the face of illness. Our Core Contributor, Christine "Liz" Larue, has been in a rehabilitation facility for a while, but with her persistent sense of humor, she recognizes her practice as an artist and writer in one of her daily posts:

"I'm ticked! My outfit is severely clashing today! Rehab fashion for learning to walk again is disappointingly weird. Whoever heard of black and Grey leopard print with maroon and beige square paisley print??? This is artistically sacrilegious!! We need MORE COLOR!

Hey! I'm an artist! I could design new hospital gowns. The facility could make some money with new, colorful hospital gowns, and Black women could get matching silk-like hats to protect their hair from harsh pillowcases.

This is how an artist gets in trouble: being in a rehab facility trying to redesign something due to a lack of color, design, feng shui, or space planning in the facility. They may be sick of me in a week.

I can hear it all now...Oooh...we have an artist in residence! Quick... get this crazy artist walking before she starts arranging food on residents' plates for photographing."

We thank "Liz" Larue for her many posts and resilience, and recognize all insights on practices in this issue. We explore practices of restraint, creating videos, spiritual and literary nourishment, and recounting memories, as well as the undercurrents of the modality and psychology of our topic, all featured in this issue. We hope to inspire you to practice or to design a practice for whatever you desire.

This issue also includes artwork, music, cuisine, and, most importantly, tributes to mothers who have influenced our readers' practices.

Gate open!