What story am I uniquely qualified to tell?
This is a question I keep asking myself – especially as I hone my voice as an artist, and the political climate intensifies.
What does it really mean? Well, there are topics I’ve wanted to explore for a long time. But I want to be cognizant of how I show up in the world as a straight, Southern, white woman.
They say “write what you know” after all, right? It doesn’t mean you can’t cover certain things.Nicholas Sparks writes women well, even though he’s not a lady. Think about what you know and are great at doing, and do more of that.
What topics am I intimately familiar with, and could explore in a way that no one else might? What experiences have I had that have led to a unique perspective? What perspective may I shed that would add to the conversations?
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Chef’s Table is a fantastic example of an intimate look at artistic voice, as seen through chefs all over the world.
Each episode highlights a chef, their story, and their gastronomic artistry. It’s a really well-crafted series focused on life experiences, and how they shape a person’s perspective and artistic voice.
Season Two, Episode Five is the story of a Slovenian chef, Ana Ros, who uses local ingredients. (We covered the local ingredient a bit in Brewconomy, so it may sound familiar, eh?) S2: E5 might be my favorite episode. Ros’s seen first in the Season Two trailer below.
What I love about this episode is how rural the area is, and yet Ana Ros is so intimately familiar with it, and making such great food as an expression of that area, that people will come from all over the world to eat at that restaurant. Ros is a self-taught chef, by the way.
The Chef’s Table directors on set in Kobarid (via Saveur). < source >
I’ve been reading, researching, learning, and thinking about my own path / artistic voice for many years. I’m starting to draw some big conclusions. It’s about why I do what I do, what keeps me fascinated, and where I want to go from here.
These conclusions are tough to put into words, especially here where we aren’t sitting face-to-face having a two-way conversation. Things are easily misinterpreted these days, and I don’t want it to be misconstrued. Plus, it’s an ever-evolving thing.
But last week I finally had an epiphany.
Since then, some exciting conversations have been happening. I’m cautiously optimistic about what’s taking shape. It’s too early to go into any details here, but when things are finalized I’d love to gush about it.
I’ve got something up my sleeve, and I’m excited to tell you everything. Stay tuned. More details coming soon.