|
Patricia Banker Peart:
Artist, Editor, Writer
 irst, let me clarify: I am no saint.
I make them...
...from clay, glass, metal, paint...and
other media...
...using historical references.
and I probably make them in another
sense as well .....
 xpeditus was not the first saint I sculpted, but he's become my personal "patron." My tendency toward procrastination has at times been legendary. I'm afraid that I may well
have nudged family and friends closer to sainthood (I'm
sure they'll thank me someday!) as they
patiently waited for me to get around to doing something I was supposed to do. Some long-suffering college roommates
once even stayed up all night to help me finish a put-off art project that was due the next day. I have phone calls
waiting to be returned; wedding gifts, thank-you notes and greeting cards waiting to be sent. Some of them have
been waiting for years...I don't need to get into the psychological reasons here...I'll just refer you to this
area of helpful links on Expeditus' page.
However, I do somehow seem to get
a few things done...and the older I get the more I realize just how little time I've got left to do
the rest! But just so I don't come across as a some sort of dallying dilettante, I'll list some things I have
managed to accomplish:
 I did obtain degrees in Art and English (with the help of those roommates!)
from a fairly prestigious (at least according to their promotional literature) university.
I
found - and have stayed married to - a great guy for 26 years.
I've
raised (with a tremendous amount of help from their dad) 3 boys to the ages of 24, 23, & 21 who (so far) have
brought us much more joy than pain.
I've
edited and published 4 books, one of which still generates enough income to enable me to occasionally buy someone
else's book.
I
have been the editor of 3 magazines (spanning 8 years), somehow making sure most deadlines got met.
I
wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for 5 years (okay, I probably did miss a few deadlines).
I
owned a full-services design studio that generated enough income to pay my bills until, in a state of postpartum
psychosis, I started my own magazine.
I
taught art in both public and parochial schools.
In fact, my whole life I've felt slightly out of sync...doing something just because it felt like the right thing,
even though others saw it as weird or peculiar. I've learned to accept it as a compliment when the very people
who smirked at something I was doing, turn around and do the same thing 5 years later because now it has become cool or trendy. And I continue to have a lot of expensive
"learning experiences."
I
think that's why these saints appeal to me so much. They did what they were inspired to do, despite public opinion
and "common" wisdom.
The
similarity stops there, however: The most painful torture I've yet to endure at the hands of adversaries is boredom;
I'm still trying to figure out my own "spirituality;" and no saint would ever write this much about herself!
Though the sculptures are now being retired (another "learning experience"), they
were the beginning of Saints PreservedTM. To find out more, click here.
....................................................................
|
