About Me
I am first and foremost an artist. Everything I do, say and believe is filtered through my artist heart. I believe in being kind, find people who are mean and unkind difficult to believe in. Forgiveness comes easy unless it involves physical or emotional abuse. I am disabled from a hiking accident 22 yrs ago, my disability defines me and completes me. I challenge anyone who says otherwise. How can you not be defined by you physical abilities and limitations? My environment is unkind, I know it has nothing to do with me, but it’s easy to take it personally.
I have found that there are several things that can bridge the gap between the non-disabled and the disabled, the first of course, is my dog. Whenever I have Scout with me, people find something to talk about that has nothing to do with me or the wheelchair, it’s Scout. He’s a very big beautiful German Shepherd and who can resist the lure of a big beautiful dog? Once people can find some common ground, it’s is much easier to move on to other things that we may have in common. For me, that is my art. People often come into my booth and never see my wheelchair. I sit behind a table and don’t often come out, for to do so would take up much of the space in the booth. So most of the time my customers are interacting with me as me, not as me in a wheelchair. It’s only after the transaction or during the transaction that they come to realize that I’m in a wheelchair. I would like to think that the wheelchair doesn’t matter, but I know it does. The more I can help bridge the gap between the wheelchair and others the better able we are to understand each other. And that is what this blog is about, bridging the gap between disability and art. Sometimes I’ll post about my disability and sometimes I’ll post about my art, and other times it will be about both. For me, neither my art nor my disability are separate, they define each other.
I have a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury for 7 yrs. I retired from this position in 2000 after being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthiritis which primarily affects my hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders. Fortunately, my pain is not severe and doesn’t limit me from doing what I love which is making jewelry. I started my own business River Wolfe Art Jewelry in 2001, working at home makes my life a million times easier, less stress equals less pain and inflammation from Rheumatoid. I do about 8-10 outdoor Art Festivals throughout the year, my life-partner Jonny is my business partner in the jewelry business, I couldn’t do it without her love and support.
I’m a politics junkie and feel that I need to stay informed and that the more informed we are the better able we are to keep our elected officials honest. I could go on and on about this but there are tons of political blogs out there that do a much better job than I. My main source of information is The Thom Hartman Show and Huffington Post, from there I find other links that I like as well.
I am a mother to two cats and a German Shepherd assistant dog. We have tons of fun with our little family.
