artandfaithunplugged.com (https://www.artandfaithunplugged.com/) When it seems like too many things are falling apart and too many people are being too terrible, it’s easy to become too hopeless, too discouraged, and too angry. Instead of complaining and raging about the church's failures, the government's failures, and everyone else's failures, we can focus more on things like art and faith that help us navigate the joys and pains of everyday life. Art matters because it helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Art and Faith Unplugged and its host Charlotte Donlon make space for conversations and writing that explore how art deepens our belongings and the ways art intersects with faith, doubt, and mystery. Welcome. We hope Art and Faith Unplugged helps you notice the ways art and faith help you flourish and belong. Visit artandfaithunplugged.com (https://www.artandfaithunplugged.com/) for essays, articles, and news about art, faith, and belonging. In this episode of Art and Faith Unplugged, Charlotte Donlon talks to Catherine Ricketts about mothering and making art and how each of those things affect the other. An essay Ricketts wrote for the Ploughshares website is one jumping off point for their conversation. That piece is "The Maternal Vision of Leslie Jamison and Marilynne Robinson." (https://blog.pshares.org/the-maternal-vision-of-leslie-jamison-and-marilynne-robinson/) They also discuss the artwork of Alice Neel and Becky Suss, why mother artists inspire Cat's creative work, and more. More links from this episode: About Becky Suss https://jackshainman.com/artists/becky_suss Suss has work in New Grit: Art & Philly Now, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through August 22 https://philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/new-grit-art-philly-now About Alice Neel https://www.aliceneel.com/ Alice Neel: People Come First, on view at the Met through August 1 https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2021/alice-neel Cat's website (https://catherinedanaricketts.com/), where you can subscribe to newsletter Cat Ricketts on Twitter (https://twitter.com/cat_ricketts) Cat Rickets on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bycatherinericketts/) Catherine Ricketts is an essayist and songwriter based in Philadelphia. Her literary nonfiction about the arts, grief and joy, and spirituality appears on the Ploughshares blog, in Image Journal, The Millions, Paste, and NPR-affiliate The Key, and is forthcoming in The Christian Century. Concurrent with her own writing, she has maintained a vibrant career in the arts and is passionate about nurturing the work of other artists, whether by writing about them, commissioning new work, or producing performances. She is currently at work on two books of nonfiction, one about grief and beauty, the other about motherhood and artistic practice. Find her on Instagram at @bycatherinericketts (https://www.instagram.com/bycatherinericketts/), where she hosts the semiweekly "IG Live Lullaby," or on the web at www.catherinedanaricketts.com. _More about Art and Faith Unplugged's host: Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a certified spiritual director for writers at Writing Life Spiritual Direction (https://www.writinglifespiritualdirection.com/), and host of Art and Faith Unplugged (https://www.artandfaithunplugged.com/). Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other (https://charlottedonlon.com/the-great-belonging-book). You can subscribe to her newsletter (https://charlottedonlon.substack.com/) and connect with her on Twitter (https://twitter.com/charlottedonlon) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charlottedonlon/).
