In "An Absorbing Errand," Jenna Malamud Smith observes that "many people who aspire to make art stall out in their effort...often their mistake is, ironically, to make it too...solitudinous." It is, she says, important to find the balance between working in solitariness, and being in solitude. I'm finding this a useful thought, becoming aware that one of my favorite times to be in my studio is when my husband is gardening. When family members are in the midst of a discussion, that's a time I pull out my sketchbook. There are many other ways that this dynamic happens too of course. In a kind of counterintuitive way, I feel connected and yet I can also be in solitude, and not always solitary in my pursuits in the studio. The external life and the internal life of art making is so intertwined.