Let's Talk About the Sea Witch
Sometimes magic is right in front of you
BAR HARBOR—Some people are bigger than life. Some people you feel lucky to meet. Some people are icons in their communities. Maybe they aren’t rockstar famous in the bigger world of the national media, but they are rockstar famous in the hearts of the people they meet.
Kristie Billings is one of those people. You meet her? And you never forget it. And you never forget her.
That’s partly because she sees the world with a precise and magical eye and that’s also how she sees people, making connections that jump and rage and exult on the page and in the heart. It’s partly because Billings embraces the differences, quirks, and personalities that make the Down East region so special.
On March 14, at 7 p.m., the Jesup Memorial Library will have an author talk with Billings. It’s called, “Kristie Billings, Sea Witch: Photographs and Poetry from a Mainer Growing Up”
According to the library’s press release, “Kristie Billings comes from a long line of lovers of the sea: fishermen, clamdiggers, and sardine packers. The ocean is home.”
The sea, nature, folk art, dolls, rage, music, love, grief? It’s in all of us in one way or another. And those aspects of life are also part of Billings’ book, Sea Witch: Photographs and Poetry from a Mainer Growing Up. The book is a homage to family, to self, to Maine, to the ocean, and to humanity.
THE INTERVIEW!
Billings was gracious and generous and let me interview her. My questions are in bold and her responses are in regular font.
When you were growing up on Deer Isle, the sea was moments away, always really. How do you feel like the sea informs you? Makes you hold your breath? Makes you notice change and movement? When you moved to Ellsworth, were there moments when you thought, “Ah, what was I thinking?”
Or was it all bliss?
After leaving Stonington, I ended up living in Portland, Maine. I spent a lot of time going to the ocean and sitting, reflecting, dreaming. The ocean is my home. I am never far from it. The ocean provides me with comfort, with life, solace. It makes me feel alive and grateful for my life.
When I moved back to Hancock County, I felt like I had returned to my ocean. Strange as it may seem. I moved to Ellsworth in November 2006 from MDI. My husband and I bought a house within walking distance of my work. My parents, at this point, had moved to Brooklin, my mother's hometown, and they had a house built on land my mom had inherited. I grew up swimming in Brooklin. I knew the barnacles by name. I knew which rocks were pirate ships.
Ellsworth has never been home to me. My house, yes. But not the town.
As an artist and a person, what do you think about risks and transitions? Making a book, jumping in the ice cold sea, having a show, starting a business, a conversation?
I have taken many risks in my lifetime ranging from opening my own business, publishing a book, doing book signings, just living. It is hard to put yourself out there on display. I think lots of folks assume that I am a gregarious extrovert. No. I'm an introvert. But I'm not afraid to show my heart, my faults, and flaws. For better or worse this is me.
Oh, my gosh. It is all the better. There is no worse in you.
In all your art forms, you capture moments and stillness often in ways that everyone might not be comfortable with, which is (in my opinion) ridiculously cool. “Life and art are sometimes uncomfortable,” you’ve said. “I like it when both make me take notice, hold my breath and stand straighter.”
What are you most excited about for art, for poetry, for the Downeast community?
I wish that I was more present in the community, to be honest. I have a lot on my plate currently. I also find it challenging to find the right fit for galleries. A lot of the galleries around here seem to be who you know, some elusive club. Same for any medium of art. I feel very much the outsider which bothers me sometimes.
Do you worry about the ocean? I know it’s so integral to who you are, which is why I ask.
I do worry about the ocean. I'm worried about climate change. I'm worried about our planet, our world.
I talk to the ocean a lot. I can't imagine not having the utmost respect for her. I feel the same way about mother nature. I could go on until I'm blue in the face but I'm not sure it would matter to most people how I feel.
When I was very young and very uptight, I’d bring my daughter to your store, Shoegazer in Ellsworth, and it was like suddenly having my whole soul seen. I suddenly had permission to fully embrace all my quirkiness, to wear felt shoes with flowers on them, to just be me for a few moments in a store with no judgement. It was a tremendous gift that you gave me.
Every time we went into your store, my little girl would say, “When can we go back and see Kristie again?”
We spent a lot of money on shoes, which is something I’d never done before, saving up for them.
But, my questions here are how are you so good at seeing? At seeing who people are? At embracing people for who they are? And also with shoes. How are you so good with shoes?
I loved when you two would come in! You two were the best. I was so happy to make other people happy! With shoes! With color!
I've been in retail for a long time now. I loved my shoe store. It was my baby. I feel like I have a gift. I am able to talk with people. People tend to like me, trust me. I make people feel comfortable.
In customer service, I have had so many beautiful interactions with folks. I think people can see that I don't judge. That I'm truly interested and curious. I want to listen. I want to know people. I feel grateful that lots of folks have opened up to me and shown me their hearts, their worlds! How wonderful!
This! This is what I think makes you so amazing—well, part of it. That sentence: “I want to know people.” That’s one of the biggest parts of the gift to the world that is you.
You have spent all your life learning and seeing and noticing. You’ve gone through some incredibly harrowing events. You’ve gone through moments of absolute connection and beauty. What is it that you’re noticing now? What is it that makes this place special? Or is it special?
Oh! I'm in a weird place personally. I'm no spring chicken. I'm living with my mother and I'm her primary caregiver. I'm noticing how hard life is. And how beautiful it is. I'm trying to find beauty in everything, even grief, disappointment, all of it. It is difficult not to get lost in all the pain. I'm trying to hold my head up, to be strong, and document with poetry and photographs.
Oh, Kristi, you may not feel it always or see it, but you are so beautifully strong. You may go under water sometimes, but when you surface? Magic happens.
From music to year-round swimming to the compelling photos and poems in Sea Witch to clothing and shoe choices, to a love of felines, there’s something both ebullient and compelling in your life, your choices, your eye, your gripping real love for your family. You’ve been a stern woman for Honk, an arts educator, a DJ, a business woman. It’s as if you collect experience and in Sea Witch, you give them back to us, this generous amazing present that makes us think, too. Was that your intent?
Sea Witch is my love letter to my family, to the island I grew up on, to the sea, and to trying to accept myself for who I am, flaws and all. These forget me nots are my Valentines, my love notes. I hope that they resonate with others and make people feel.
I once did an interview with the artist Nikki Moser and her website said her work manifests from questions that she is addressing (and I was super intrigued by this because I haven’t seen a lot of artists/writers/musicians say this, but that’s how I work). How about you? Do you have questions now?
I'll always have questions. Sometimes I wonder why am I putting my work out there now. And, I think because I have to. Because I personally need to. I am a poet. I am an artist. I like seeing. Feeling. Being a writer and a photographer have made me look at things differently. Sometimes, I just want to ask people to tell me their stories. Tell me everything. Sometimes, a simple look is enough. It tells me a thousand things.
I am also interested about what is happening to the Old Maine. To the Maine I grew up with. When I drive around, so many places I loved have vanished. A lot has changed in the past 50 years. Not just in Hancock County. I wonder what is coming around the bend.
And when you think of your art as communication, do you rejoice in that letting go or worry over how the viewer will translate that experience? I ask because I know a lot of authors and artists have a hard time letting go of their work for that communication piece. Do you rejoice in that collaborative aspect when art is so subjective? Fear it? A bunch of things?
My poetry is pretty straight forward. I feel like viewers want more of an explanation of my photographs. I don't like to explain them. I want people to form their own conclusions. I could tell folks where I took the photo, what camera I used, etc. I don't feel like I owe an explanation.
You are one of my favorite humans, Kristie. Thank you so much for taking this time and letting me interview you.
Thank you so very much, Carrie. You don't know how honored I am! Thank you.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Free and open to the public, books will be for sale, courtesy of Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop during the Jesup event. You can register at https://www.jesuplibrary.org/events/billings
You can find out more about Daydream Nation on WERU, here.
More about Kristie and Sea Witch here.
Oh! I loved Shoegazer! Thank you for making this connection for me!