Changling Artist

My name is Lynn ... but my sweetie calls me Pooh ... and my paintings are all signed Cerridwen. For the first time in 34 years I have the time & freedom once again to be the artist I've dreamed I would be since I dropped out of college to take a job at the age of 27 ... the artist I’ve suppressed so long in order to bring home a regular salary ... the artist who celebrates the changling in each of us.

I study, I teach, I talk, I show, I draw … for money, I communicate things technical … and for myself, I communicate things non-technical, emotional, artistic. Over the years I've studied and/or taught crochet, sewing, painting, printmaking, sculpting, electronics, mechanics, microlithography, filmmaking and the gentle art of making snow-angels.

I'm a native Californian but I’ve been in the northeast for 20 yrs, mainly Vermont (which I adore), and I can’t imagine ever living on the West Coast again. I love traveling around Europe and the US, especially going to art museums … and I CAN imagine living in the hills above Nice and slowing life to a pace where painting and eating meals fill the rest of my days (see photo below of St.Paul de Vence).



For 25 years I’ve taught & serviced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. That was all ended when I was RIFed this past winter ... so now I’m a 61 year old, semi-retired, lesbian, stay-at-home artist/wife. I had planned, no, hoped to work until I was 66 and then I could retire on my 401k and social security. Well like everybody else the economy, the banks, the crash too care of my plans. So now I’m trying to figure out how to take my very eclectic skills and turn them into a living on-line.

Last year my partner and I transferred to the Hudson Valley in NY state so I could continue working for the same company. We sold our house in Vermont and bought a slightly smaller one in New York. After I was RIFed we moved all our stuff into storage in Vermont, cleaned up our New York house and put it up for sale and move back to Vermont to live in a small little apartment waiting for our house in NY state sell so we can buy a home in VT (see the photo below for a sample of why I love Vermont so much)



Losing my job of 25 years wasn't my fault … in this economy it’s happening to all kinds of people every day. In my case I just stayed too long with one company and I was taking home too high a salary so they saved money by getting rid of me and having somebody with less seniority do my job. Lets be honest, the shock of loosing a job of 25 years is traumatic ... but to be freed at last to take advantage of the time and energy before I get any older, to seize the magic of art once again...

Oh yea, I've been through LOTS of changes in my life … little changes and big changes, changes I've fought for … and changes that were dropped on me out of the sky. Now this life change may just be the SECOND best change ever!

Oops, did I forget to mention … I’m transgendered and my surgery (35 years ago) was THE BEST change ever !

See COMMENTS below for a chart explaining the what Transgender & Transsexual mean