MARTHA SECHLER continued from 63
She asked about it, and he later asked her out for a date.
They were married in 1979, and have two adult sons and three grandchildren.
Kim was a teacher and principal for several Brown County elementary schools over a long career which included a short stint in Monroe County.
Martha, meanwhile, was the children’ s librarian at Bartholomew County Public Library in Columbus, then was hired as the elementary school librarian in the Columbus school district.
She retired from that job in 2007, and went to work part-time at the Brown County Public Library. As part of her duties there, she helped the children’ s librarian and held regular storytelling sessions.
Over the years, she has told stories to thousands of children, including different generations of the same families.
She plans to continue storytelling sessions to children even after retirement.
She does not read the stories aloud to children, but instead interprets them in her own words.
“ Mostly I find my stories in folklore,” she said.“ If it appeals to me, then I tell it.”
One or two of the stories she tells are embellished from her personal life, but most are from elsewhere.
“ What I tell the kids is that the stories are the truth. Some have happened and some have not.”
Another part of Martha’ s creative life is in her artwork. Her Lightspinner Studio in the Helmsburg area has been part of the annual October Back Roads of Brown County Studio Tour for 10 years. Her creations include watercolor scenes and artwork on gourds( no, she quickly adds, her gourds aren’ t meant to be birdhouses).
Though she sometimes uses photographs as an initial idea for a painting, the process is spontaneous, she said, and she begins a painting not knowing what’ s going to happen or what the final result will be. Some of the themes come from fantasy, or from mythology or cultural themes from Native Americans, Latin America, Africa or Asia.
Gourds may be an unusual medium for her work, but they become integral to it.
“ I think when you use a gourd, it’ s not just the shape, but the colors and contours become part of the work. The gourd kind of tells me what to do.”
In transforming gourds, she uses paint and inks, woodburning, sculpting and other techniques, as well as adding seedpods, grapevine, or other materials from nature.
Martha Sechler can be reached by phone at 812-703-3129, by email < lightspinner13 @ gmail. com > or on Facebook at LightSpinnerStudio. •
64 Our Brown County • Sept./ Oct. 2023