Gisele: Homeward Migration

A Creative Expression to Recessionary Times

Having lived in southern California for the past 25 years my husband and I have begun our migration back to New England to be close to family.

We had always planned to head east after our two children were settled in their collegiate lives, but unfortunately the timing of our move was accelerated due to the unexpected loss of my husband’s job in April 2009.

Given only two weeks pay, we were forced to act quickly. Our hope was that he could find work locally so we could remain in our home. Unfortunately this didn’t work out as we had hoped. Not wanting to sell our home, we rented it out and search for a new home.

We were fortunate that my sister’s home on the western slope of the Rockies was offered to us until Bill found work. So in October 2009, we moved to the Mission Valley in western Montana and spent our first ever holidays away from our home and apart from our children.

After the holidays Bill headed east by himself to continue his search for work, leaving me and our dog to wait for word.

“Homeward Migration” was created in the last month. It has been a way for me to express some of my emotions during this journey. Each piece is meant to stand alone, but I find it to be a more powerful statement as a grouped installation.

These are the first three pieces of a larger body of work that has been completed at this point. I will continue to update as I complete the remaining works.

Enjoy.