DIANE JONES GODFREY

Finding Time, Memory and Herself in Mixed Media

KINGSTON — For Diane Jones Godfrey, an ordinary question can become an artistic problem.

“What’s for dinner?”

Godfrey’s mixed-media work at The Lace Mill Guest Gallery transformed that familiar interruption into an exploration of time, creativity and the competing responsibilities that can fracture an artist’s concentration.

Godfrey described being downstairs making art while simultaneously thinking about dinner. The interruption can break the creative process and generate frustration, an experience she incorporated into a work appropriately titled What’s for Dinner?

“It’s about balancing your time and just struggling with finding time to make your art and be creative,” Godfrey said.

That collision of everyday life and creative thought also appears in Godfrey’s altered books. She cuts, paints, draws, collages and physically restructures existing books until the pages become intensely personal visual journals. One began with Julia Cameron’s writing about creativity before Godfrey gradually made the book her own.

The process also grew from her years as an art educator. Godfrey taught students techniques including foldouts and pop-ups, encouraging them to rethink what a book could become. She taught within the Onteora Central School District, including years in Woodstock, before retiring 13 years ago.

Her work frequently draws upon personal experience. Godfrey discussed pieces connected with her hearing loss and subsequent cochlear implant, which she said restored hearing in one ear from virtually nothing to approximately 95 percent. Works involving faces, eyes and the difficulty of interpreting other people reflect that hearing journey.

Her recent return to printmaking has also intersected with public events. During Art Walk weekend, Godfrey participated in a Midtown Kingston project in which artists carved large linoleum blocks that were printed outdoors using heavy equipment. Her contribution drew from sketches she made of protests during 2026.

The breadth of Godfrey’s work can initially appear playful, particularly in her altered books, but the humor often conceals something more personal. Domestic responsibilities, aging, hearing, teaching, politics and memory all find their way into the work.

Rather than separating art from ordinary life, Godfrey seems determined to put ordinary life directly into the art, interruptions and all.