Stephanie's Studio

This has been an interesting week. My art and writing came together more than usual. I headed out to a forest preserve and felt as though I could feel my character Yolanda lurking about there. The forest is her element. I was sucked in, wanting to learn how to enrich her story. While there, I drew this: Thatcher Woods, River Forest #1 c. 2015, Stephanie Rose Bird Many of Yolanda's Magical Realism scenes take place in the wood and since I grew up among them as well, I felt very drawn to this place. This piece is in chalk pastels. Upon returning to my studio I wanted to revisit my story of Yolanda in "No Barren Life." Quickly enough, I began revising some of the environmental settings for her.  "Larkspur Quartet," oil pastel, c. 2015, Stephanie Bird                                                 Our weather has been iffy this week. Rainy, windy...

All was going well, as well as it could for an underprivileged Negro living in the deep south during the 1940's. I'm talking about Earnestine's life. I was excited to share tidbits of her story with you, writing about her for the letter "E" of the A to Z Challenge. As I was saying, all was reasonably well, until Kyane came to town. Earnestine didn't know what to make of her. Was she black or white, rich or poor, human or not--who knew. She seemed around her age but so different from the other girls she knew. Quickly Kyane inserted herself into Earnestine's family life, cracking it wide open like an ornery walnut. From that time forward, she had her own name for Kyane, as derogatory as it was. This girl, that was part animal, woman and thing, was forever to be known as the Vixen to Earnestine, her mother, aunts, uncles and cousins. Her brother and sister, the twins, were much too young to grasp the full meaning of a vixen. The unpleasant name tripped aw...

Earnestine is the main character and protagonist of my second novel, which is a W.I.P. I am very excited about Earnestine. I have spent many hours developing and refining her character. I would be the one guilty of wanting to put an exclamation point behind her name. With about a third of the first draft written, she is a character very much in development. Some days she is a blur and others, she's crystal clear. Recently, I had a breakthrough, wherein I could finally hear how she speaks. Her's is a difficult voice for me to hear and capture. She speaks quietly. The fact that her story takes place in 1947, in Mobile, Alabama and one of the Greek Islands, makes her all the more mysterious. Her diction, colloquialisms, and tone are not all familiar. I enjoy the process of seeing how her voice will come through as the novel develops. I am eager to see her show and tell me how to write her story. As is true of my first work of fiction No Barren Life  the novel  Out of the...