Home Studio with Mildred Beltre

How have you been?

This period has been really rough for me.  I’ve been feeling a lot of anxiety, lots of grief and a little bit of joy. Sheltering in place with family has been stressful and made it hard to focus. Like many I also had to switch my work life to Zoom, I still have not mastered the perfectly curated zoom nook and constantly have family passing through the screen, and the stuff thrown all over the couch is showing and I guess that’s just what up. Why pretend
that everything is all fine when the world is on fire?

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What are you working on?

At first I was mostly doing sewing projects with my mom.  Making masks for myself, family friends and neighbors.  It took me a lot of time to feel like getting into the studio.   I just didn't have the emotional energy for it.When we all started sheltering I had picked up a text based cross stitch piece that I started about a year ago but had stalled out as other more urgent projects cropped up. In this time I have been able to make a lot of progress on it and it also provided the possibility of quiet/introspective time during the chaos. It helped me focus, helped me think.  Around May however, I started getting outside requests for things, and I felt like getting back in the studio. Currently in a couple of online shows and a show at the Zuckerman Museum in GA that opens in August. Projects are picking up… 

www.mildredbeltre.com

Instagram: @millie_b_

Click here for an interview of Mildred Beltre and Oasa DuVerney about their longstanding project, the Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine.

All images courtesy of Mildred Beltre.

Interview conducted by Klaudia Ofwona Draber.