The Gift is the Work

Gift (sourced on Snappa.com, May 2025) I know I’ve ranted (was it really ranting? Maybe…) before about my aversion to the words “gift” or “talent” when it comes to artistic ability. I find them annoying and insulting. They imply...

Return to Self

Selfhood and voice as the path towards it have been the overarching theme of this blog since I started writing in 2019. My preoccupation with this topic has permeated my own artistic practice, my research and my work with students for many years now–probably for...

Full Circle

Big Red Ball (Kimberly Barber, taken December 2024, Vancouver, BC) This week I had the pleasure of coming full circle. I had a “debriefing” with one of my former students, Dr. Elizabeth Lepock, with whom I co-taught the new course “Pedagogy and...

Just a member of the band

Girl Band (sourced on Snappa.com, January 2025) This week I made the decision to sneak back out of performing retirement. I’m joining a band. True story! Not just any band, mind you. And it’s not the kind of band you might typically think of; it’s a...

Hard Things: revisited

Butterfly among the rocks (Kimberly Barber, Kathleen Lake, Yukon, July 2024) I’ve talked about Hard Things in this space before, and this is the time of year (about 3/4 of the way through the term) when such themes frequently re-surface. Students are preparing...