beachbites
and ended up teaching high school English in Pender, which ultimately
brought me to my knees. Finally, I had my first one-woman show at Duke and
I remember saying to myself: ‘OK, it’s now or never. You want to be an artist.
Do it.’”
In 1994, Toll boarded a plane for a three-week artist’s colony in Macedonia.
“I was 39, married with two kids, and at first I was like, ‘Oh my God. I don’t
know anyone here; I don’t speak the language, and no one’s meeting me.
What am I doing?’”
She chuckles, recalling her sense of displacement, which soon gave way to
a sense of euphoria at finally feeling like an artist.
“The whole thing was like a dream. I really found out who I was. I was
inspired to work harder.”
“I’ve always known I have to challenge myself,” she continues. “To make
the kind of art I want to make, I have to break out of my patterns. I gotta stick
my neck out.”
Like her friend Pam Toll, artist and No Boundaries’ co-founder Gayle Tustin
is similarly moved by water.
“Water has been a paramount influence in my life,” Tustin says. “I once
sailed the coast of Turkey for two weeks, anchoring over tumbled ruins
and mosaic floors. I felt a core connection with the ancient past
that I continue to draw on when I’m able to turn myself over to
my artist self.”
Her artist self started young, in New Castle, Pennsylvania,
making collage and paper dolls and dresses. With an eye for
detail and an interest in fashion, she was accepted to the
“OK, it’s
now or
never. You
want to be
an artist.
Do it.”
12
WBM september 2012
ARROW ROSS