Tish Grier

Currently, my vision is coalescing in different ways, which revolve mostly around I can generate income from my work. I don’t particularly have a vision type of statement as some visual artists or writers. Just where things are at right now. Always subject to change.

I came to W. Mass from New Jersey in 1998 to attend college. After graduation, I experienced such a case of burnout, and financial instability, that it was best to stay in one spot rather than try to conquer the world. In the meantime, while figuring out a way to break into paid freelance writing through blogging, I picked up crocheting as a way to relieve stress. But it became more than that when it became apparent that few people did the kind of thread crochet work that is usually associated with grandmothers from another century. Some people find it odd for someone to have abilities in such disparate fields, but to me it’s simply an expression of both sides of my brain: the mathematical and the verbal. Why neglect one in favor of the other?

I am a professional blogger and freelance journalist/writer. Worked my way into journalism from blogging, which is sort of like going into a restaurant through the back door (and something that, in the mid-late ’00’s was pretty much the unorthodox way of becoming a journalist.) If you do a search on my name, you can pretty much trace my career trajectory. Transparency is the most fascinating thing about building a career from the web out. Whatever you do, it’s right there for all to see. It is, as our teachers warned, our “permanent record.” During this time, I also re-discovered the art of crocheting, and have started refining my craft and design abilities.