Amy's Story

This is a story first published at Foundation for Art and Healing www.artandhealing.org/ written by my wife. Her art work is here www.amyhitchcock.com

I am a self-taught assemblage artist (B.A. in art history), living in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts with my husband and 9-year-old daughter. In 2001, I was 37 years old and experiencing what would be my first symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. My body below my ribs was partially numb with a pins-and-needles sensation throughout. Eventually, my hands had the same symptoms. I was incredibly tired, and had great difficulty doing such simple things as walking, putting on socks and holding a pen. More distressingly because of my lack of balance, I could not safely hold and carry my daughter. In 2002, I had a relapse, and was officially diagnosed with MS.

I have always dabbled in the arts, but it was during this period that I started to take my art more seriously. My assemblages tell stories based upon such items as vintage photographs, discarded toys, postcards, and other paper ephemera. I believe that these found objects can bring about memories of one’s past and family history. Though my artwork is personal, it is my hope that by using these materials, my assemblages are interesting and accessible to the viewer.

A 1950’s black and white photo inspired my first assemblage. It is a photo of my Aunt Ruth (my mother’s sister). She is a beautiful young woman sitting in her backyard. On the back of the photo, she simply wrote, “ain’t I healthy looking;” a sentence that was loaded with sadness and fear. At that time my Aunt was experiencing her first symptoms MS. Several years before this photo was taken, her father was diagnosed with the same disease. And in the 1960’s her sister Rosemary also was diagnosed with MS.

I found myself drawn to this photo of my Aunt, (A women who died the year I was born, and at the same age of my diagnosis.) and her words haunted me. Yet this photo also changed the way I looked at art and at myself. I needed a way to explore my new connection with my Aunt, and my own feelings towards MS.

And so my first assemblage, Ruth (ain’t I healthy looking), was made from a wooden wine box and an assortment of found objects. (Vintage doll legs, fake butterflies, magnifying lenses, and photos of my Aunt, and a photo of me as a child) There were times, making this assemblage, that I felt anger, frustration, and sadness; emotions that I usually would have denied. But in the end, I felt as if I was able to somehow “know” my Aunt, and have an appreciation of those words “ain’t I healthy looking”. I also felt I had a better understanding of my diagnosis and myself. I felt calm and centered. (Within nine months my original symptoms all but disappeared, and I haven’t had any new significant symptoms since 2002.)

What I wasn’t expecting was the need to make more assemblages! Some 6 years later I have made over 50 assemblages, and have shown and sold my artwork throughout the Boston area. Yes, MS is part of my life. There are days that I need to pace myself so I don’t get overtired. And often at the end of a day, my legs feel like lead. But more importantly each day provides an opportunity to create art, which helps me feel energized and relaxed. At first, a way cope with my MS diagnosis, my artwork now is an integral part of my life that I’m extremely thankful for.

— Amy Hitchcock
amy@amyhitchcock.com

How Did You Think of That?

Originally written for www.451heat.com

“How do you creative guys get your ideas?” I hear that question a lot and my answer is usually that it’s a process. Sometimes you get the “ah ha!” moment in the shower then pretend to spend all day working on it, but unfortunately those are few and far between. Most of the time we actually DO have to work at coming up with a creative idea and I’ll share some of the techniques that work for me.

I find being present at initial client meetings helps, that’s obvious, but paying attention to the details can help spark an idea that the client might not realize they mentioned, but is right on target. Taking notes helps, but I find making quick sketches of ideas that jump out immediately is important because when you go to the next meeting or the phone rings those potential good ideas just disappear.

Leave some time for day dreaming. There are usually a few key messages that the client is trying to convey and you need some quiet time to think hard about a creative way to make them come to life. Make sure to write down all your ideas, especially the bad ones. Once you write down the bad (or tired and cliched) ideas you get them out of the way and you can move on to the good ones. They’re there; you just have to dig them out.

Don Draper, the Creative Director character on the TV show Mad Men, once suggested to a colleague to think hard about a problem then just forget about it, then the ideas will come. I totally agree, once you plant the seed and you let your brain go on to something else you tend to have ideas pop up. Just be sure to write them down! It will take a few cycles of hard thinking and forgetting, but you’ll be amazed at what comes up.

Keep a pad and a pen handy by the bed. After a long day of work your brain has been processing all kinds of information with no time to rest and make sense of it all. The only time that it gets a rest is when you sleep. I find that the time just before you fall asleep can be a very fertile time for creative ideas. If you take that time to let your mind wander to your project (in a non-stressful way) great ideas will make their way to the surface. In that time between sleep and consciousness I usually come up with my best ideas. I tell myself that I’ll remember the idea in the morning, but if I don’t force myself to write it down then it’s gone and I spend the rest of the day scrambling to figure out what it was!

Finally, whether you have a pressing project or not, a good habit to get into is to be aware of things around you. Take a close look at buildings, ads, magazines, movies etc. and store them away. There are a ton of great ideas out there if you keep an eye out for them.