This town I live in, this town I love—Moscow, Idaho—is home to the University of Idaho.  I often tell people it’s a small town with a big heart, straddling the state line between Washington and north Idaho.

It also has a thriving arts culture.  Visual artists, writers, poets, musicians, dancers, theatre artists, filmmakers, culinary artists—there are an impressive number of people who create and people who enjoy sharing what they create.

From time to time, Radio Free Moscow (KRFP 92.5 FM) taps into this eclectic roster of people to explore a variety of topics in depth during on-air  interviews.  Last month, I had my chance.

Maree McHugh is the volunteer host of  The Every Other Sunday Show.  As a nurse practioner, she has an amazing talent for drawing out people, getting them to speak of things that otherwise might remain in their hearts, unspoken.

For nearly an hour and a half, she interspersed me and music. It’s odd how very quickly I forgot that  scads of invisible people might be listening. Or, that I might make a fool of myself.  Somehow she made me feel like we were two friends having a one-to-one conversation over coffee .

Yesterday, she sent me a link to the archived version of our edited interview. It’s a 43-minute montage that she stitched together without the music. Just me and her, but mostly me, answering her questions. You might wonder, how can I describe in words what is essentially visual?

She started by asking questions about my recent installation at the University of Wyoming Art Museum—Interstitial: Between Earth and Sky. But then she asked how I became an artist, what inspires my work, where do I get my ideas, how I do my work, why do I use the materials I use, how  did I get started using hot glue as a media?

I had no idea I had so much to say.  I talked and talked and talked!  (If I used the word glorious, one time, I did so at least a half dozen times—ugh.)  But I just spoke whatever came to me.

This radio interview became a priceless souvenir—a permanent record of me speaking passionately about what I think about and what I care about as an artist.  I will always treasure this gift, how it captured the serendipity of who I am at this time of my life.

If anyone is interested—other than my husband, mother and perhaps my sons— you can listen to the interview by clicking HERE.