SWIM FREE

"Swim Free (Sandy Fest 3)." Speedball block printing ink and India ink on 3" x 4" colored index card.

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Each year since my mother died, I celebrate her "Feast Day" with a day of art and poetry and food and family. The past couple of years included a visit to the cemetery to clean gravestones of family members, to the Bremerton Art Walls to paint, to a memorial garden, and out to dinner with members of my family. But most of that was unmanageable this year due to the global pandemic and stay-at-home emergency measures.

Even though, this year's celebration would primarily be at home and, later, with family via videoconferencing software, I wanted to make sure it hit most of the touchstones that make the day for me.

The primary focus of the day was this year's version of "Swim Free." The first "Swim Free" (Year 0) was painted in acrylics on the Bremerton Art Walls. The second "Swim Free" was painted in spray paint on the Bremerton Art Walls. The third "Swim Free" was painted at the Bremerton Art Walls, with the first spray painted on the Walls and an additional three painted onto concrete panels.

This year's fourth "Swim Free" (Year 3) was an attempt to capture the spirit of the previous three versions in a new medium—linoleum block printing. I spent the day carving two 3" x 4" linoleum blocks and one 3/4" x 3/4" eraser, and then printing the layers onto index cards that were cut in half.

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Later in the day, family members gathered via Zoom to hear a couple of poems read—"For Grief" from To Bless the Space Between Us by John O'Donohue and "Washing My Mother's Body" from An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo—and give a "Coca Cola" toast in memory of my mother.