Brenda Cordray's Going With the Flow in Memphis collection to be included in Memphis Art Salon's ART SPEAKS: Visual Poetry & Art Inspired by Words Exhibition April 5th-May 31st 2025
Let the Crowd Shout Yipppeee!!
Howdy, friends!
I mentioned recently on my ramblindesertrose art page on Facebook that I had entered a contest to be included in the ART SPEAKS Visual Poetry & Art Inspired by Words Exhibition opening Saturday, April 5th, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. at the Memphis Art Salon in the historic Minglewood Hall building, a former bread factory. Check out this handful of pics of the inside of this epic structure. I can’t wait to see more!
With that being said, let me lift up my mighty pen-sword and sweep across the page in a stunning BUCKET LIST CHECK moment because I, dear readers, was chosen to participate!
Like the elementary school kid who rushes to find her name in the advertisement for the school play, I hollered out a “WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO!” so loud that it tipped the heads of two pups and sent them scurrying for cover.
Nope, I have not jetted off my proverbial rocker. I have just done one more thing that I said I would do if we had the chance to sit for a spell in Memphis. I have always dreamed of having my art hanging in a gallery. With this opportunity, I have been given that chance. I was proud of myself for answering the call for submissions on very short notice. Here is the preliminary schedule of events, if you happen to be in the area:
Memphis Art Salon describes the experience:
“Expect an unforgettable journey through paintings, mixed media, installations, and interactive experiences—including a collaborative poetry-art mural, live poetry readings, and artist-led workshops. Don’t miss the opening reception on April 5, featuring an artist panel, spoken-word performances, and a "Words to Art" live illustration session!”
Here is my description of my collection:
“My collection was inspired by the current Chinese Year of the Blue Wood Snake. The idea of patience, renewal, and going with the flow amidst inevitable change seems appropriate as a theme for 2025. Accessing snake's gifts of strategy and adaptability will bring us strength and foresight, as will leaning on our own internal wisdom and intuition.
After more than a decade of nomadic living, I have spent the past year cocooned in Memphis gathering my stories of road life and working on a memoir about what it took to create a sustainable life out of a dream. Here, my husband Dan popped out of retirement and has worked to strengthen our foundation and to upgrade our chariot for further road adventures.
Here, we have immersed ourselves in the art scene and the culture of this jewel of a city. Here, my creativity has blossomed and added wings upon wings to my joyous journey of an adventurous life I could have never imagined.
I created these works in gratitude for this chance to slow down and reflect upon my years of travel. I give thanks to the Great Spirit for the blessings and synchronicities that allowed the road to open before me, and then us, and for the road that led us to Memphis where we could let life flow along the Mississippi River. Thank you, Memphis! What will YOU create this year?”
Brenda Cordray
The Desert Rose
In addition to The Desert Rose on Substack, you can find my travel/inspirational Pages:
https://www.facebook.com/stepintothesunlight
https://www.instagram.com/twentyonefeathers/
My art page:
https://www.facebook.com/ramblindesertrose/
Here are my submissions for the ART SPEAKS exhibition:
In addition to the piece entitled “Smooth and Easy” that was used as the cover shot for this post, the following are my works that will be included in the exhibition.
A few years ago, I ventured out of my roadie sketchbooks and began holding portable Dabble-In-Art Arty Parties in the tiny Sonoran Desert town of Quartzsite, Arizona. We own a plan-B late 70’s era park model trailer there, in the very town where Dan and I met. We land there every now and then to rest and reboot for the next leg of our journey.
You can read about the time I was part of the Quartzsite Art Walk in my blog post about that experience. The Quartzsite Art Walk was another last-minute adventure that has a back story you will have to read about when I (finally) finish at least one book about my (our) decade on the road. If you are new to the phenomenon that IS Quartzsite, Arizona, check out this post I wrote a few years ago that describes some of the sights and activities you might enjoy way out that way.
Art has followed me, chased me, pinned me down, and offered both joy and comfort to me my entire life, just like writing, traveling, and teaching have. I have no choice but to create to survive. I know this at my core, and feel it keenly when I don't let the muse have her way.
The days I “start with art” are the often days of balance and progress. Nearly every wall in our apartment is covered with prints made from the leaves and flowers in the yard, or scribbles filled in with color-pops that I have created between words, or when the words won't come.
I am still in it to win it, though, so don't count me out of the race on my storytelling gig. Poco a poco, or little by little, is a much better than none at all. I have made strides, but it has been like dumping everything out of a messy utility room and thinking you can logically reassemble it before the sheer bulk of it gets in your way. I have at least worked at sending the stories to individual folders based on the state they were written about, and that has really helped.
I can see that most chapters would work as a stand-alone essay, which also helps. Like the hundreds of thousands of photos taken, there are bushel barrels of both wheat and chaff included. Still, it’s like going on a treasure hunt in your very own basement. There is nothing like making yourself howl with laughter or bawl via your very own words. How it will all fit together has been challenging but I have fresh ideas and a few more months to make a significant dent in it while we are here.
In THIS meantime, another great in-between time, the sunlight seeks seeds sown over the past year-and-a-month of nesting and incubation. Oh, how the ground rumbles as the green tendrils stretch and lengthen. This season reminds us that summer (and freedom) are just around the corner.
Dan’s preparing the travel trailer roof for solar panels and I am (virtually) pre-packing and stacking the cabinets and shelving in our new rolling home. I am plinking away, dabbling and drawing, spinning the home-mama plates, and breaking in a new trucker’s atlas as I consider the details of our next route. I long to be back in my role as trail-mama, navigator supreme, once again.
By the time I celebrate my next birthday in mid-August, we will have been back in retirement mode very briefly and will be headed north and east, or east and north. There is still that coin flip thing. We know for sure we will be camped north of Detroit in mid-September for my son Jon and soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Kale’s wedding, another joyous celebration to look forward to this year. We have plenty to be grateful for, and plenty to look forward to, including a gallery opening next Saturday!
I think that is it for now, and I would say it is plenty. Hey hey to all who already hang out here and a warm hello to all the newbie shotgun riders. Y’all buckled up? Camp Cordray is springing into Spring ~ let’s doooooo it!!
Happy is as happy does,
Brenda Cordray
The Desert Rose
So very proud of you. ♥️♥️♥️
I can barely wait to get back in that "road mode".
Congratulations!!!