Patrice Vecchione began making her collage series The Guardians last January as a part of a variety of actions in an attempt to manage the trauma of living in this country with an illegitimate and dangerous president at the helm.

Matisse said, “What we make, makes us.” These collage remind of us the vastness of what we’re held by, of larger truths that are at work always, of the power of the spiritual realm, of the possibilities the imagination can lead us to, and the importance of humor.

Patrice is the author of two collections of poetry, three nonfiction books, most recently, My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth. She’s edited many anthologies of poetry and prose for adults and young people, including, Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience.

Patrice is the poet-in-schools for the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, leading poetry writing workshops for high school students throughout Monterey County. She teaches creative writing and art classes for OLLI@CSUMB. For over ten years, Patrice has been a columnist for the Monterey Herald, writing A Walk About Town: stories about taking a walk.