Studioprose

Painting and Prose by

Janet Whittle Freedman

Alexander Chee

By Janet Freedman on March 20, 2021

I am reading Alexander Chee’s “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel”.  I was drawn to it because much of what I write is autobiographical and I also tend to write…
READ MORE
Turning Point

By Janet Freedman on June 11, 2021

I’ve waited all my life for a particular cusp, a turning point where I would recognize myself as complete – grownup and assured – with a clearly marked path into…
READ MORE
Flower Panel #1

By Janet Freedman on July 9, 2021

At school we studied the work of many artists, among them the Frenchman Odilon Redon (1840-1916).  I remember that I was not drawn to his work but now realize what…
READ MORE
Narrow Views

By Janet Freedman on July 9, 2018

I’ve thought many times of that trip to Pennsylvania in 1958. The outing was arranged at the request of my widowed grandmother who, urged by fleeting time and memory, was…
READ MORE
Joan Didion

By Janet Freedman on March 25, 2018

I was recently reading Joan Didion’s book “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”. The essay entitled “On Self Respect” hit several notes with me, especially her reference to “gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth…
READ MORE
The Importance of Notebooks

By Janet Freedman on September 21, 2017

Books on the craft of writing often suggest that aspiring writers carry a notebook so that they can jot down the ideas, thoughts and sentences that sometimes sprout full blown…
READ MORE
Hotel Rideau

By Janet Freedman on April 16, 2014

For successive summers in the 1950’s I travelled with my parents, brother, and paternal grandparents for a week-long vacation in Ocean City, MD. Anticipation grew as the trip drew near.…
READ MORE