Hello, World!

Forgive me, I’ve been learning how to code and couldn’t resist the classical way to enter a digital bit of writing into the world. Anyhow, hi! And welcome! I wanted to use this space to get some thoughts down on the artistic process. It’s moot to say these are my ideas and where they aren’t I will credit them, but the world being what it is…better to be explicit that my opinions are my own.

I’ll start with introducing myself. The “about” page covers some but not all (don’t worry I’m not going to be using this space as a memoir either). In brief, I’m a freelance polymath creative. This means I’m highly skilled in a number of unrelated areas, as I am chronically and incurably interested in how everything works. This means I’m a skilled professional actor (I’ve worked on Broadway and helped run a scrappy lil theatre company), so I’m good at (and my goodness endlessly interested in) human behavior, I am skilled at writing (hush now), poetry, and of course, visual art. Soon to be proficient at coding, too!

What else? I was born in Israel and moved to the New York City when I was 3 years old, so English is my second language. I lived there for a time but spent most of my formative years in Connecticut (privileged information…I usually don’t disclose this until people know me better but, transparency). I’m a mama, and I homeschool my brilliant, sweet kiddo with my brilliant, sweet partner in New Jersey after having lived in New York for 17 years. Only just a couple of years ago I discovered that I’m neurodivergent. I’m half out and half in about that because the stigma and struggles with these sorts of invisible disabilities is pervasive and potentially super harmful. But I digress! How ADHD of me…

So what was the genesis of SG Studio? Well a long time ago in a galaxy of post partum anxiety, I got involved in an online mom’s group so I could see how to bathe a newborn but also to have a sea of mothers cheering you on through excruciating nursing pain—a fortifying experience. One of these moms had casually seen my work before and asked me to make a custom piece of art from her dad. She flipped out and absolutely loved it, and then the commissions started coming in. There have been a lot of ups and downs since then, with quite a few hiatuses thrown in there, but I’ve always made art and I believe I will never stop.

So Art. Do I care to define it? Minimally. It’s a famously divisive topic, and I’m more interested in the making of it. “Let others make that decision, they usually do”…oof even after all these years I can’t shake my love of Sondheim (nor would I ever want to). Point is, yes I might touch a bit on that but it’s way less interesting to me than the actual making of the stuff itself. So keep an eye out for some art related things in these parts! Thanks for reading!

XO

Shira