We don't believe, we only fear

At the edge of a precupice 

With no parachute 

No net 

Wanting to fly

We don't believe, we only fear

It's not my fault

In Certain Relationships brooding is mandatory

Because you knew better

Or at least you should have

Payed attention

Instead of ignoring the obvious

The truth is hard

And ugly

Removed from the troubles of every dayife.

Aware that her passing is eminent

the family gathers,

Removed from the troubles of everyday life.

Cherishing each moment.

Brothers hover over their culinary delights.

Cousins buzz around the spaces.

She gazes upon the faces 

of her two daughters.

Each in their way, her own reflections

Mother hurries to her,

Needing to be sure of her comfort.

There is agony,

 in my grandmother's heart.

Each day, each moment,

is precious from the start.

I find myself gazing at my aunt,

Memorizing her face,

Each line, the color of her eyes,

Shape of her smile and her brow

She is with us now.

So now, we share meals, pose for photos, and embrace often, 

Never missing a chance 

to express our affections.

Grasping at any chance 

to steal away moments with her.

To hold her hand, see her smile, 

and hear her voice.

Later that evening,

A room is filled with laughter 

over a lively game of charades.

Feeling drained, she retreats.

She wants to stay, 

but she hasn't a choice.

Here. Now.

Here I am holding this,

Little boy in green zipped up froggy jamas.

Who wants to nursy,

And just wiped away my kiss.

Tells me he loves me, and Lava girl

As I serve them both macaroni.

I am informed that Hercules used to be a spider, but now he's a boy.

Hercules is strong, and so is he.

They both are good boys.

Especially mine

Who just got a coin for his be-good piggy, "Shineya."

He tells me stories of Shark boy and Lava girl and how he saved the day.

My little super hero

Who wants a piggy back ride.

And as we mark his growth 

On the back of the door

He announces that he is growing fast

I want to slow down time

 

Rhythm and Bleat

If it hadn't been for the bones 

we passed around the circle that night

Fire crackled and flared by the cliff side 

The little gypsy girl pointed to the sky

It was shooting star

Quietly, I sang a tune, alone

Sitting cross legged, Bo gave a sigh

His fingers gently plucked the guitar

The mother began to hum

Just lowly at first, and then high

Treetop swayed 

and a flute began to play

Chris's hand slapped onto the skin

A repetitive thump and swish

Of palm, fingers and thumb

Little gypsy danced, arms in the air, 

Skipping, wind in her hair

I took a deep breath

And the voices joined in

The rhythm of the drumbeat quickened

Our song was loud

There was a sound in the distance

Then in silence we listened

What was that strange sound

It wasn't a howl or a bark

No bird made that noise

Slowly and quietly, we began again.

A chant and a whistle, a song and a hum

circled around cracking flame and spark

Gradually, our voices raised 

to the beat of a drum

Then again in the distance,

from somewhere down in the revene

That sound we heard earlier 

from deep in the dark 

surrounded by aspens 

It wasn't an owl or even a wolf

That responded to the music 

of our campfire scene 

It wasn't a hoot or a howl 

but more of a grunt and a bleat

That joined in to our song 

at the crescendo of the drum beat

Each time we heard it 

in silence we'd listen 

What animal it was, we never could tell

Because the response to our silence,

Was silence as well.

Resume

Jessica S. Harris

Objectives

To work teaching art being active with youth and in a community setting while continuing to develop my art portfolio.

Education

Bachelor of Fine Art received from Humboldt State University in December 2003.

Interests

I enjoy a wide variety of arts and crafts, such as painting, knitting, jewelry making, and working with textiles. I am interested in becoming involved in community activities, such as working with youth. Creating and promoting my art.

Professional Accomplishments

Teaching Art

Currently, I teach art classes at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Since I began teaching at the Essex Art Center, I have taught various mediums including,pottery on the wheel, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and art history.  I have had students between the ages of 3-adult. My primary class is pottery on the wheel for children over the age of 10.

Through the Essex Art Center, I have also taught art for the Middle school girls of the Esperanza Academy.  www.essexartcenter.org , www.eperanzaacademy.org. Teaching art for the Esperanza Academy girls was very rewarding work. I taught them all mediums of art including art history. I began teaching for Esperanza in 2007, working with 6 grade girls and I continued with the same group of girls until they graduated from 8^th grade. I also taught 6th grade girls beginning September 2010 ending in April 2011 due to the birth of my son.

I have been teaching art classes for the Worcester art museum since March 2008.  I teach a variety mediums and methods and my students are between the grades k-8.  I have also worked “off site” going into Worcester public schools to teach art after school. I inspire students with the museum’s rich art collection whenever possible. This work gives me a wide range of experiences working in the community. Through this program, I have taught at public schools, churches, and community centers. Through this program, my youngest student was 3 and the oldest was 83. www.worcesterart.org

I also taught art classes at the Danforth Museum School since spring of 2007. My students ranged from kindergarten to middle school ages. I worked mostly with clay and three-dimensional art, ranging from general sculpture classes to pottery on the wheel. www.danforthmuseum.org

Additional Work

-      Mark’sgarden and Gifts in Watertown, Ct from spring until summer of 2005.  Assisted customers with gardening needs,specializing in trees and shrubs.

-      I have worked seasonally at Smolak Farms on and off for several years. I worked in their bakery cooking large batches of doughnuts,cleaning, and assisting the bakers as needed.

-       Worked as sales associate for 3 months at Clay’s, a family owned chain of women’s clothing boutiques. Assisting customers, maintaining a clean and organized store, designing displays and sales promotion.      

-       Worked as a server for Friendly’s restaurant in Framingham Before relocating to Webster, Ma.   Nov-Dec. 2007

RecentEmployment History

☼    February2008- Present Employment; Teacher at the Worcester Art Museum

☼     55Salisbury Street, Worcester, Ma 01609 - (508) 799-4406 www.worcesterart.org

☼     April 2007 – January 2009; Teacher atthe Danforth Museum

☼     123Union Avenue, Framingham, MA 01702-8291 — 508.620.0050 www.danforthmuseum.org

☼     January 2006 – Present; Teacher at theEssex Art Center

☼     56Island St., Lawrence, MA 01840 ♦  (978)685-2343 ♦ www.essexartcenter.com

Referencesare available on request.

A strange dream that I had last night

A woman is in labor on a dirty sidewalk near a disgusting garbage can.

She stands and leans on the garbage can, the baby is coming quickly. I rub her back and tell her to breathe. Suddenly, I see the baby's head and almost immediately, I am able to catch the baby in my arms. I am wearing a pretty soft and delicate white shirt that I take off and wrap the baby with in and give it to its mother. There is a rude fat lady standing nearby smoking a cigarette and I get very angry that she would smoke so close to a newborn baby and a woman in labor. She refuses to stop and we argue loudly. The woman is a nasty bitch. 

The mother of the baby calmly comes over and tells us to stop arguing. She has something else to wrap her baby in and she gives me my shirt back. I notice that my pretty soft white shirt is stained from the baby's birth, but I don't care, I just put it back on.

Then, suddenly I am a student again and I am with one of my old college professors. (She was an Art History and a Women's Studies Professor and she was my advisor and one of my main mentors in my college education. I miss her.)

We were sitting by her computer in her office that was packed with wonderful books discussing the classes that I needed to take.  A science class which would be a challenge. A women's studies class that I was very excited about. A religious studies class that I dreaded because I hated the teacher. 

Occasionally, during our discussion about my classes, I would inquire about the newborn baby and the mom would come into the room and say that the baby was fine and taking a nap. At one point, while wearing my white shirt that was stained from birth, I came to look in at the sleeping infant. I am happy to see the baby sleeping so peacefully all wrapped in clean white blankets laying in a bassinet. 

All the while, I am also feeling stressed about all of the classes I have to enroll in for the upcoming semester.