What No One tells you about Starting Over: Introduction and intentions
Staring over means learning from past experiences. It does not matter if you are beginning again with a work of art or within your own life journey; reflecting on our past experiences helps us process and navigate the current world around us.
This blog is going to be a multitude of things, from a journal of my thoughts and musings to the documentation of my art, artistic practice, methodologies, creative experiments, explorations in visual arts, and so on. I want this blog to be a living work of art in itself, growing and serving as a documentation of my creative journey and to serve as a resource or reference for those who may come across its pages. I do not plan to write in a specific style or post with any particular schedule as I begin this process, I intend to write and share my thoughts, words, and writings honestly and casually, unfiltered. While this space is to be a corner of the World Wide Web where I can just dump my thoughts and notes, I want this space to most importantly foster support and community for anyone willing to learn and make creative mistakes!
I look forward to creating and continuing to learn and grow as an artist and creative.
For those of you who I have not had the pleasure of teaching in Savannah, Georgia, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Billie Stultz-Nyaribo, I am a multi-disciplined artist residing in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in Roanoke, Virginia. The creative areas that I specialize in are watercolor painting, acrylic painting, leather working, jewelry and metal smithing, polymer clay, Lino-cut printmaking, and pencil drawing. If I am being honest it is hard to narrow down my areas of specialization and interest, as I am constantly learning and playing with a range of artistic media. I suppose you could call me a bit of a “Renaissance (wo)man”(1).
In 2016 I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Art History and a double minor in Museum Studies and Linguistic and Cultural Studies. Since then, I have spent my working career in the museum and academic fields as a steward for history, culture, and educational awareness around the subject of traditional African Art.
As I have dedicated nearly a decade to my work in the museum field, I find myself at a crossroads of changing careers and paths once again. I am saddened to step away from the platform of academia and the administrative institution of museums. However, I am elated to begin realizing my dreams of being a full-time artist and creative while sourcing from my experiences and history in the academic realm.
(1) Definition of the Renaissance man, the notion that humans should embrace all knowledge and develop themselves as fully as possible.