Corky Parker's Blog, page 2
November 2, 2020
Cover Stories
Granted, I’ve lost a lot. A few times over. Somehow, I see myself as fortunate — despite it all. I have always been aware of my abundant opportunities and experiences. Since childhood I’ve wondered about luck and fate. Although I’ve credited it mostly to plain ol’ luck o’ the draw, good fortune, I also i see it took lots of hard work, as well as a certain part of me that dives in, gets going, raises and waves my hand in class, and takes the risk. I was, and still am, always up for adventure, at least for finding out more.
In these weird times, and at my age, still wobbling without my inn to tun, or farm to farm, I have no idea what the future holds for me personally/professionally. Not to mention for our nation and the world. That gets too big, too quickly so I draw in. Today I’m thinking about one small corner of the world, one of the few things I do feel certain, and excited about, and that’s my new finca. No, not a place. The book. La Finca. The all important cover is done! and It’s being printed as we speak.
I could leave it at that. Et voila! But that's not as fun as celebrating the bits and pieces — the adventures and the real personal connections that went into it. I marvel at all that goes into even a cover. Boatloads of luck, ten years of work, and a lifetime of going for it.
You may wonder, for example, how did I end up with Rebecca Wells’ glowing words on the cover? As well as Alice Waters, and a whole host of amazing folks who were kind enough to read and comment, on the back? It's not like my publishers or a PR team randomly send it out there. Nope.
Like its predecessor, the inn La Finca, the book, is all about people that helped build it, from actual help with the editing or digital design process, encouragement, and others who provided the fodder for all the stories inside. For me connections with people are always as good as it gets. The big payoff and the secret, sacred ingredient. Like, how I know Becca…
I was five months pregnant with my first child, in Anchorage, when my brother offered me free tickets to Mexico were going to expire if not used right away. I cleared it with my doctor and midwife; I was just barely in the safe zone for air travel —so we took off. Little did I know that my luggage would get lost and that my life would be changed by this trip.
When you're that enormously pregnant and you arrive in a beach town it's hard to find clothes that fit. So there I was walking down the beach in the only thing that did; a purple and white striped string bikini. We were looking for a hotel and a group of people waved to us, inviting us to check out theirs, the funky Hotel Omar. They said we looked like we would fit in. I don't know if they were referring to me in the bikini or not. One of those smiling faces was the divine Ms. Rebecca Wells, then an aspiring young actress and playwright from Seattle. The whole crowd was from the Northwest. Needless to say we moved in, made fast friendships with all of them and in the course of the week together, my husband and I decided make a stop in Seattle on our flight home to consider moving there. We did, and we did.
One year later with a six month old, Becca took me under her gracious southern hospitality wing, and help me find our first house there and connected me to my first job, through a ladies clothes swap and chili feed she hosted in my honor. Becca read to my children when they were little. I read her first manuscripts, and designed the poster for her play, Gloria Duplex. (A few Seattleites might remember I ended up posing for it because it was too expensive to get a union actress to do a nude shot (Gotta be serious about seizing adventures). From there on out, our friendship drifted in and out over the years, all 36 years of it…but she was there for me when I wrote her for early publishing questions a few years back. Now she lives close enough to visit, and we do.
It’s a good reminder to raise my hand, jump in, grab or create or write, or call an old friend. Even in these challenging, nerve-racking, hard to get motivated times, we can’t let the bad guys beat our spirits. Who knows what good things result and sweet words might come our way?
((And, if you’re just on the edge of your seat to know how Alice Waters came to review La Finca, well…that’s chapter 12. Guess you’ll just have to get the book. Pub date is January 26th. :) ))
June 28, 2020
Life, lessons & laundry in a small Pacific Northwestern town
How many of you, “ old Finca” guests remember the hanging laundry — and any of us working there, hanging it up, taking...
life, lessons & laundry in a small Pacific Northwestern town
How many of you, “ old Finca” guests remember the hanging laundry — and any of us working there, hanging it up, taking it down, folding it away, or rehanging the drenched far flung pieces after a storm? The laundry was such a large part of running that place. To think we didn’t have a dryer for the first many years… It’s no surprise the laundry found its way into my book art and tagline.
I remember these two adorable nine year old girls from a family reunion asking me to teach them how to do laundry. I had their help for a couple of great loads. Heck — they must be adults by now — do they hang their laundry? I wonder if they remember any of my tips…
And there was the one woman, walking up those crazy steep stairs off the laundry porch, stopping to tell me how she appreciated my hanging it in such an “artistic way” — with the patterns and colors of the bed linens and beach towels all coordinated. After all those years— someone actually noticed. That felt great...because the truth is, I did sort of art direct the laundry. But then, how can you not?
Besides the artistic, I paired them up by personality. I got to know each of those darn pillow cases rather intimately — I knew who wanted to hang, or sleep with, who. And who just looked cute together.
It’s not quite the same here in this post-finca smaller scale life of mine, but lord knows I try. l still love putting certain colors and textures next to others, whether it’s in the garden, in a collage, on a plate, or on the line. And then that raises the question about what sort of line…
I’m still hanging it all, and still picking it up, re-hanging it after the storm.
Life, and even the storms seem smaller here, and now. For all of us, I’m guessing. Sometimes I get edgy in this reduced horizon… There’s less asked of me, and I’m asking less from others. I hate that part of this Covid living…but when all else fails, there’s always another load, and maybe even sunshine, or at least a new way to hang it.
Miss you all, but looking forward to connecting —somehow— when the book comes out this fall!
Onward, c
(My graphic memoir, La Finca - Love, Loss & Laundry on a Tiny Puerto Rican Island, published by Trinty University Press is due out Fall, 2020)
April 26, 2020
Miracles by Any Name
My first retablo, ex-voto. Acrylic paint and collage on tin. Not my first miracle, but the first of what I hope will be a long series of re-creating and celebrating the milagros that have been scattered throughout my life. This piece is about my finally being over the grief of loosing the finca. Anyone who knows deep loss, knows you can’t “just get over it” because or when you want to. To wake up knowing I have the bounty of the memories, and the all place taught me, without the pain of the lo...
miracles by any name
My first retablo, ex-voto. Acrylic paint and collage on tin. Not my first miracle, but the first of what I hope will be a long series of re-creating and celebrating the milagros that have been scattered throughout my life. This piece is about my finally being over the grief of loosing the finca. Anyone who knows deep loss, knows you can’t “just get over it” because or when you want to. To wake up knowing I have the bounty of the memories, and the all place taught me, without the pain of the loss, feels like a miracle, indeed.
I am rather passionately drawn to these this primitive Mexican art form. I’ve always loved outsider art. Maybe subconsciously I saw it as a way “in”. (If Grandma Moses could do it, maybe I could too). I remember being transfixed by Frida Kahlo’s collection patch-working across her studio walls. On that same trip to Mexico City a few years ago, in the midst of a very disappointing broken dirty Barbie doll sort of flea market, I was lucky enough to find two beautiful retablos from the 30’s, that I bought — and cherish. A year later I commissioned an art student in Guanajuato to create one as a thank you to pals there. Hard to give it away...So now, creating my own feels quite good.
Otherwise, it’s been challenging for me to get real creative these days. Call me crazy, or maybe just lazy, but I haven’t been able to figure out what the heck one writes of interest about sheltering at home and a worldwide pandemic. But...thankfully, there’s something about mixing paper and paint, words and glue, that lets me dive in and just play. Maybe I love retablos especially because each is a story told in both words and art. And that’s the way I roll best.
Speaking of mixing words and pictures, i just got the very good news that my book, La Finca, is somehow, despite the dystopian shutdown of so much — still slated to come out this summer—-! More details, and maybe even have a cover to share soon. For now, the notion the book will be real feels like another miracle. Here’s to the many, many we all need right now, and to all who help them come true.
#graphicmemoir #graphicnovel #illustratedbook #womenwhowrite #womenwhodraw #retablo #tupress #vieques #latininmysoul #finca_victoria #artheals #outsiderart
December 13, 2019
Finding Joy in a Website & the Season
finding joy in a website & the season
First conceived of as my "author’s page” to support my book launch of La Finca, Love, Loss & Laundry on a Tiny Puerto Rican Island next Spring, the site has grown to reflect my ‘greater self’, or at least a wider reflection of other things I'm up to. In hopes that we can connect through any of them, I’m including places I rent here in Port Townsend and Marrowstone Island for a week or a month at a time, (forever trying to be an innkeeper again ;) creative projects, art, community activism, etc. I've had a lot of fun with the site. Feels so good to be back in my old self saddle of writing & design. It actually has been a neat, rather unexpected, tool to help me focus on what's most important in my life right now —and prioritize what I want to do next. It's always the mix of words and pictures to create a sense of place —that I Love. (funny note to self: my computer capitalizes Love in dictation. hmmmmm…) Anyway…After the giant push to get all the artwork done for the book this summer, it's been great to have the site to work on and play with as tool to connect with folks. 
Not necessarily my best piece but I do like the message.
As I get older, and hopefully wiser -- on a good day, it's clearer than ever before that play, and connection are a lot of what it's all about for me . A few years back when one of my kids was struggling with a hard time and called me to ask what “it” — the answer or purpose of life— was all about, I told him I’d have to get back in a couple days. Because he's a scientist, I couldn't bullshit him with a pat answer. At the same time I was working on a collage for my granddaughter's second birthday. In working/playing with that, the simple answer came to me. Even in these complicated, sometimes dark, certainly foggy– unclear times, for me — the answer might be as simple as finding, creating, and sharing Joy. For me, the processes of finding, creating and sharing joy can come from creating artwork, to donating to the legal teams working for the families separated by the facsist white house administration, or from bringing a neighbor harvested garden vegetables to binging on The Crown. It's sort of includes it all– from letting go to holding , on; from helping out to laughing it off. And certainly, in all that, play and connecting with folks are some of my favorite ways to do all.So — on that high note, I welcome you to the new site — hope it helps us connect somehow! — and wish you JOY in the season, and coming year. Let’s make it a good one! corkyApril 19, 2019
Staying in Touch
Dear Friends,Hope its okay if I still call, and think of you, past guests, as friends. As I venture out and away from ...
staying in touch
Dear Friends,Hope its okay if I still call, and think of you, past guests, as friends. As I venture out and away from my role of innkeeper, it's a little different now. I used to write when the finca had a special room rate in November, or I was looking for work-trade help with a project. I could easily weave my missive around newsy bits that might be of interest to you; a new solar system, or cat... whatever.The "news" here, (far away from Vieques in my new little house in Port Townsend, Washington), is big -- for me -- but isn't very new. (Apologies, if you follow finca caribe in FB, you've likely read all this). To be honest, I started to write a few months ago, but it sat here waiting for me to finish: Feb 1. The contract for my book is sitting here in front of me -- like it's real or something. It tells me my memoir -- the story of the finca is going to be published by Trinity University Press in the Spring. 2020. Boom. I like the sound of it. 2020 Like seeing clearly. Bright-eyed and focused. I'll be ready. 
I wasn't sure what else to say; or if it was too little, too late to connect with you. I was afraid, after losing the finca, that I have to let go, and lose you too. Honestly, letting go of the network of finca friends made over those twenty-some-odd ;) years, might be the last thing about that place I can at least hope I still have. Can I somehow keep the magic of the place, the back deck, and the connection with you, alive? Not sure an author's bloggy newsletter once or twice a year will do it. Maybe you will come visit the Olympic Peninsula. I am getting ready to list my cabin for farm stays on Marrowstone Island or maybe even the bottom half of my duplex here in Port Townsend, next year. Funny how many folks say its wooden deck looking out over Admiralty Inlet reminds them of the finca. :) la finca del norte. Fun to think about how, or if, one could pull that off. But for now, y'all are welcome to come by, sit on the deck and at least say hello -- if you're ever out this way.Hopefully the book will help keep us connected. Who knows if I tour around with it, I might be coming to a book store near you. Being an illustrated, photographic, annotated sort of endeavor, I am still, a year and a half after Hurricane Maria, possibly more connected than want to be. As I sit here in my little studio, drawing, painting, collaging the past into the book, I am joined at the cosmic hip to the old place -- on a daily basis. Anyone who has experienced loss, through death or divorce, hurricane, or anything else, knows the sharp pain of going through the photos. And that's what I have to do. The photos, the sketch books, the journals. Culling out the best snippets of each to include. For hours on end, and usually alone, I sift through the beauty and uniqueness of that special place. It is hard. Let's face it. I was the lucky Captain of a beautiful, now sunk ship. Still trying to figure out who I am, and will be, without it. The book has become something of a life raft. Keeping me afloat, until I know.Don't get me wrong. I am not still in the depths of despair, or overlooking for a minute, the MIRACLE that a press, like Trinity has given me this opportunity. They must see something in me, and/or the finca story, worthy of taking to a larger audience. I am excited -- and grateful to them, and for the odd coincidence that being a graphic book, this cathartic process is taking place. By saying it's hard. I'm just honoring it. "Going to the pain", as my mom would say when we hurt ourselves, will make the pain go away. "You will own it, instead of it owning you." That's what I'm aiming for. I'm ready to lose it. But not you!... not if I can help it. Hope we stay connected, and hope you are well. My best from here, corky
September 18, 2018
Adios... in case you haven't heard.
Having lost my husband, Bill, to cancer last year, six weeks before Maria, it was too much for me to repair the destruction, and run the place on my own. Support from past guests, family, friends and neighbors through work parties and the gofundme campaign allowed us to get on our feet again, and for that, and for your continued support over all these years I am, and will always be, more than grateful. It’s been one helluva ride; the best, richest chapter of my life. I love how the finca has somehow managed to enrich the lives of so many. 
Like Gail Burchard, who I bought New Dawn from 23 years ago, I'm delighted to pass the baton to a woman committed to keeping the magic of the finca alive. Sylvia will no doubt bring her special touch to the place, inside and out, and make a good thing, that much better. She is continuing our efforts to restore the buildings and pool left after Maria, and plans to be open for business by mid-December, as Finca Victoria.Sylvia started coming to the finca over 15 years ago. Since then she became the local friend who stepped in to help — whether that was finding rare treasures in Puerto Rico, doing catering, staff training translation, emergency housekeeping; basically jumping in until I could get down for whatever calamity. Despite, or maybe because of the craziness, the finca inspired her to start her own inn in San Juan. Anyone who knows her has witnessed Sylvia's distinctive talents in creating unique spaces and providing an awesome guest experience. 
Sylvia is not only a local gal, but she brings all the right things to be the next steward of this little corner of the world. I know it’s the right thing for the finca, and think it’s a good thing for Vieques. All told, what I would have thought would be mixed feelings, aren’t mixed. I am truly happy for this change. Part of our arrangement includes time for me at the finca...Way too hard to imagine. Maybe I can finally enjoy the place like you all did – on a real vacation, relaxing!Because of that, I don't have to get all mushy, or say "adios". I care too much about this place to ever just disappear. Besides, with any luck, my graphic memoir, Duct-Taped Dreams will be finished before long. I’ll keep you posted on the lafinca.com blog and fb. In other words, I’ll be around, and hope you will be too. It would be great to see you at the finca! you can follow the new finca on instagram, @finca_victoria.I can't express my thanks well enough — for all that you've shared with me, all that I've learned and loved along the way.In peace, gratitude, and finca magic, siempre, corky
