Marissa Edwards

Homage

There’s a part of each of us that will forever be deeply connected to where we grew up. Our hometowns etch themselves in our souls, and traces of our upbringings weave themselves throughout the fabric of our futures. For me, that’s rural Kansas - so rural that my hometown was not even home to a traffic light or gas station. In that small town country life, discovering avenues for recreation was often up to me. I never had to look very far and—more often than not, opportunities for entertainment found me. Some of my fondest childhood memories are rooted in lazy Sundays at the saddle shop on Main Street; those hours quickly became my favorite way to spend weekends. The workers there were so skillful and I was enamored by the way their scissors glided through the leather hides, how easily their awls punched through the pieces. Just as effortlessly, my desire for entertainment became a yearn for a craft; this seed was planted in those early years, but it was up to me to water it.