Radio Maine Episode #77 Transcript: Susan Sherrill Axelrod
8/17/2022
Susan Sherrill Axelrod is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. A former restaurant owner, she is now the Editor-in-chief for Culture, "the ultimate publication for those who love cheese." Her love of culture goes beyond the culinary: she has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian literature and has traveled worldwide. Now a Maine resident with a strong connection to the Boothbay region, she shares her talents with the Portland Art Gallery community via Art Matters, a weekly web and email column featuring interviews with our artists. Learn more about Susan Sherrill Axelrod on this week's episode of Radio Maine.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Hello. I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle, and you are listening to Radio Maine. I have Susan Sherrill Axelrod in the studio with me, a wonderful friend of mine and an artist in her own right. Thanks for coming in today.
Susan Axelrod:
Thank you for having me. I'm flattered to have you call me an artist. I never think of myself that way.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
We interview –as you do– a lot of visual artists, but you've been writing for years.
Susan Axelrod:
I have. I've been writing for a long, long time. Sometimes, I come out with something and think, "that's pretty good." That might approach art. I like to refer to myself as a journeyman of writers. I think I can write about almost anything and make it sound intelligible. I know I'm being a little self-deprecating, but unless you give me a complicated science subject or something involving a lot of math, I'm okay with it.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Now, tell me how long you've been writing because I know you've done this for Maine Home and Design. You do Art Matters for us. You are the editor of Culture media. It's a lot of work to write. How many years back does this go?
Susan Axelrod:
I owned a restaurant as my first career from 1989 to 1999. I sold the restaurant and had no idea what I was going to do. I had written for my college newspaper and had done a lot of writing in college because I was a French and Italian literature major. I had a friend who had a group of small newspapers, and he asked me to join them in 2000 and I've been steadily employed in media since then.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
French and Italian literature.
Susan Axelrod:
It's a little obscure, isn't it?
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
What made you choose this?
Susan Axelrod:
Well, I didn't necessarily want to be a language major. I wanted to combine it more with reading. And so, it was an interesting way to combine my love of learning those languages with my love of literature. My thesis was on the love sonnets of Petrarch, a very obscure subject, so nothing remotely useful.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
But as a result, you must have had to learn some Italian and some French.
Susan Axelrod:
I did. At one time, I spoke both fairly fluently. Now I've had to learn a little Spanish, so it all gets mixed up in my head. I was in Italy a couple months ago, and I could understand what everyone was saying to me. And when I tried to repeat it back, more than once, someone said, "si, Español!" I have to separate them.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Yes. I have done that as well. Somebody has spoken to me in Spanish, and I have responded in French. But I guess they're all romance languages. So people hopefully are somewhat forgiving of that.
Susan Axelrod:
Yes, they are. They said it to me with a chuckle. So that was good.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
So working backward, you owned a restaurant for 10 years. What got you interested in food?
Susan Axelrod:
I don't know exactly. I was a hungry child. My mother would hate me for saying that because there was nothing remotely in my background that should have made me hungry. There was plenty of food in our house, but I was very curious about food and cooking from a very early age. I don't know if you remember these books– Life had a series of books on foods of the world, and they had hard covers. And then they had softcover recipe books that went with them, and it was one of these things you would order, and they would ship you one a month. And a family I babysat for had the whole collection. So after the kids went to bed, I would sit and go through these things and sometimes copy down the recipes. I watched Julia Child on TV and Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet. I was fascinated by cooking, and my mother was a perfectly decent cook, but she worked full time so it wasn't exciting to her. I started experimenting in the kitchen when I was pretty young.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
So far, we've talked about writing, art, literature, and food. You've incorporated all of those things moving forward in your life, both personally and professionally, which is impressive.
Susan Axelrod:
Thank you. I feel very lucky to be able to do things that I love and get paid for them. You know, as the editor of Culture, we're all about the enjoyment and industry of cheese, and that work has taken me around the world. Well, not around the world. I shouldn't say that, but since November, I've been to Spain, California, Oregon, and Italy, and I'm going to Wales this November as a judge at the world cheese awards, something I never got to do.
I always worked for regional or local publications, which was great, but travel was regional or local. And now it's been further afield. I love keeping my hand in the art world by doing the Art Matters blog because, for several years, I edited the art guide for Maine Magazine and loved doing that. And I still occasionally write for Maine Home and Design, which is fun to keep my hand in as well. So I've just managed to figure out how to juggle it and keep it working. Fortunately, I have flexible schedules, and remote working makes things a lot easier.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Susan, tell me about the work that you do at the Portland Art Gallery and specifically Art Matters.
Susan Axelrod:
I am very, very honored to do this work. First of all, I was thrilled when I was asked by Kevin and Emma to do this. I love having these conversations with artists. I've done most of them on Zoom. I schedule a 30-minute interview with the artists. I'm going to eventually interview them all. And we have a casual chat about them, primarily about their style and their process. And what's emerged is that a lot of these artists have changed things up because of the pandemic. Whether they've explored new subject matter or they are doing something a little differently than how they usually work. It's just been fascinating to me how they are all so different.
You know, Kevin was very clear that he didn't want this to be autobiographical or, you know, sort of a CV situation. He wanted it to be more fluid, and they really enjoyed the opportunity to talk about those things. So it's just been absolutely fascinating. Some of these are in person. I interviewed Jean Jack in person, which was lovely, at her home in Freeport and David Mosier asked for an in-person interview as well. And I'll look forward to that when I can pin him down.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Well, having interviewed him here for the radio podcast series, I can tell you that you will, and you probably already know this. He's a fascinating individual, and it'll probably be a lot of fun for you to actually see his process on-site. Are you gonna do this at his studio home?
Susan Axelrod:
Yes, that's my plan. He's like a lot of people in that he's away for a chunk of time this summer. So I imagine it'll be this fall.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
And when you were with Jean Jack, did you get a chance to see her studio?
Susan Axelrod:
Yes, I did. And that was wonderful. In her home, I felt like I had sort of stepped into what might be behind the walls of the houses she paints in her work. I loved all her folk art and the feel of the house. It was great.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
When I'm looking through the Instagram feed for the Portland Art Gallery, I see the home visits and studio visits. I always enjoy that because I feel like I can learn about people just by the pieces that they have around them.
Susan Axelrod:
Yes. And even on Zoom, most of the artists are in their studio, and very often, they'll take their device, whatever they're using for the interview. And walk me around the studio to show me. Emily Blaschke did that. Anne Heywood, I think, also showed me a little bit around her studio, which was fun to see. It's nice to be able to do it even if you're not in person.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
When I've interviewed patients before, just as part of the other work that I do, I pick up clues about their lives, and I get the chance to visit with their cats and talk to their children. Yesterday I was on camera with somebody that I'm working within a different area, and his wife brought him a Starbucks, so I actually really enjoy that because I sometimes think when you sit in a setting like this –it's not that it's not interesting– but it's just different. It's a little bit more formal. What's in front of you is what's in front of you; it may not represent the actual person.
Susan Axelrod:
Absolutely. We have my office. Well, we don't have an office, but my colleagues and I, when we have our staff meetings on Wednesdays, on Zoom, very often, a child or an animal will show up somewhere along the line. And I think that's really nice. As you said, it makes it feel more relaxed.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I like to think about those being the possible benefits of the pandemic. There are many things about the pandemic that have not been beneficial, but if there are things that we can learn and gain from the pandemic, I do like to think that maybe the increase of activity in the virtual space has probably been beneficial for many people.
Susan Axelrod:
I think so too. I really do. I mean, I'm one of those people that wishes I could go to the office a couple days a week. I miss the interaction, the casual cup of coffee, the "hey, let's go have a glass of wine after work." That sort of thing that you don't really get online. My colleagues and I were just talking about this– I hired a new digital and social media editor. She's in Martha's Vineyard, and she's wonderful. We were all out in Oregon for a conference, so I got to meet her for the first time. And that was great. But even sometimes, in email, things can get misinterpreted. If you could just walk into someone's office or over to their desk and say, "hey, this is what I'm talking about," it sometimes makes it a lot easier. But I agree with you: I think it's been a benefit. If I could do a hybrid work situation, I would do it, but one of us is in the Berkshires, one's in Martha's Vineyard, and one is in Alabama, so it's not possible.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
In some ways, that's actually been really nice. I mean, if you think about going back 25 years ago, if you worked remotely, there wouldn't be a lot of emails going back and forth.
Susan Axelrod:
No. You had to use the phone and I'm still a person who picks up the phone rather than send another email. I think it can sometimes be helpful just to hear somebody's voice.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Yeah. I also wonder sometimes, you and I both, one of the things that we spend a lot of time wondering about is the world of words, and that works for people like us because we like words. We like speaking to them. We like writing them. We like understanding them. But for people who are perhaps more visual or people who communicate in a different, more physical way, I wonder if it's been stressful to have to increasingly rely upon words.
Susan Axelrod:
I think so. I work with other people who are words people. So even our creative director, who is amazing, is a phenomenal email writer. I will just dash off a few sentences. Mallory will spell things out very succinctly and clearly. I do it when I have to, but she's very good at that. She's every bit as good of a writer as she is a designer. But I think you're absolutely right. Sometimes I get communications from people, and I'm like, that's a little harsh or awkward, but it's just because they're not used to communicating that way.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I'm thinking about David Moser in particular. He actually does use words very well, so that's not an issue, but as a sculptor and there's such a physicality in what he does, I'm guessing that being in the same space with him is going to create a more rich and more nuanced interview than just kind of doing something over zoom.
Susan Axelrod:
Absolutely. I think that's really important. And again, in an ideal world, I would visit all of them in person, but you know, it just is not possible. I'm really looking forward to that interview. Some of these artists, like John Gable, really want me to visit him in his studio now. I'm very excited about doing that. And I keep saying, I've got to call John and visit his studio because he's right down the road from me. So we had a great interview, and he was hesitant to do it. His daughter, Kate, and I worked together, and so once she talked to him, he agreed to it, and he was really happy with it. That was very gratifying for me because I think he's a phenomenal artist and a very impressive person. That was a high point.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I would think the fact that he does these large-scale pieces in his studio would be impressive in a way.
Susan Axelrod:
Yes, that was in his Bath studio. He's given that up, for now, so he's just got his studio at home because right now, he's not working on any murals, and he doesn't have any coming down the road; he's doing some other work that is smaller. But I would love to see that studio where he had the big pieces; that would have been cool. It's hard to get a sense online of how big they are.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
How about the idea that, as a writer, you are essentially helping people use their voice in a new and different way. And what you're doing in some ways is kind of translating their story into a way for other people to understand it, but also want to remain as true to the person as you possibly can. And with artists, I would think that's particularly important.
Susan Axelrod:
Absolutely. And it's interesting because some artists are very cautious in how they speak about their work. I've had several of them say to me that they appreciate the fact that talking with me for Art Matters and being interviewed by you for this program, gets them to step out of their comfort zone and they talk about their art in ways that they hadn't thought about before. And they're grateful for that. Other artists are very, you know, loquacious and full of descriptive terms, phrases, and sentences to describe their work and how they feel about their work. And so sometimes my task is to take something and expand on it. Other times my task is to take something unwieldy and get it down to where the average person can follow along. My task is to demystify art and the art process for the average person.
I really appreciate it when I talk to both types. It's been a fascinating exercise for me as a writer to have to do that. You know, the interview is the easy part. I record it on Zoom, and then I listen to it and transcribe it, and then I take it and shape it into the blog post. So it's been fascinating, and expanding it is an exciting exercise for me as a writer.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Tell me about the other work that you do and the board work that you do, and some of the exciting things that you have coming up.
Susan Axelrod:
Well, I'm on the board for Main Preservation, which is a statewide organization working to preserve all different kinds of properties. They do more different kinds of work than I can describe here, but it's a very vital and important organization for Maine. We have a new Executive Director, Tara Kelly, who's doing an amazing job. Our 50th-anniversary gala is September 18th from 4-7 at Ram Island Farm. It's the Sprague property in Cape Elizabeth. It's gonna be a really fun event with live music and catered food. The guy that we're using has a 20-foot mobile kitchen, and he's gonna be serving from stations. We're also gonna have oyster shuckers and other light bites. And we're talking about doing an art show with the Portland Art Gallery. So it will just be a fun casual afternoon. We're anticipating a good crowd of 250 people. You can get your tickets online at mainepreservation.org.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Very good. Why Maine Preservation?
Susan Axelrod:
When I lived in Yarmouth, their headquarters at the time was right down the road from me. I got to know some of the folks involved there and they asked me to work on the gala because of my food background. And one thing led to another, and I was asked to be on the board, and it's been really fascinating. This is just my first term on the board, so I'm still getting my feet on the ground. I've always loved history and old houses and the whole concept of preservation. I wrote the preservation column for Maine Home and Design during the bicentennial year. So that also connected me to the organization. I'm fascinated by everything they do, and I don't even know entirely everything they do yet. I'm still learning.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
You're not originally from Maine.
Susan Axelrod:
No.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
How did you end up here?
Susan Axelrod:
I spent many summers here. All my summers when I was a little girl, my dad was an Episcopal priest who is s now retired. He preached in a summer chapel on Southport Island. His pay was a cottage for the month, so we would come and sail at Southport Yacht Club. My mother was a teacher, so she could take the time to come up. That was my introduction. I moved here full-time in 2013, and I wouldn't live anywhere else except maybe in February and March.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I think many of us who live in Maine feel exactly the same way.
Susan Axelrod:
Yes. I'm fine through January, and then I get a little itchy for some sunshine and warmth.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I know one of the things for you that's been really important is maintaining connections and face-to-face relationships. Actually, you live not too far away from the artist Ann Sklar, whose work is behind us right here. As somebody who does work remotely a lot of the time, what has it been like to have to kind of pull back as a result of the pandemic?
Susan Axelrod:
It was challenging, especially because I moved during the pandemic. I moved to Woolwich from Yarmouth a year ago, so I settled into a brand new community. Fortunately, I live in Days Ferry, this little neighborhood in Woolwich, and they have a community center that has pretty regular events. Just about the time I moved there last spring, they were starting to have some events again outdoors. So I did get to meet some people locally, and that was really helpful, but it was hard to be so far away from a lot of my friends and connections in Portland. I realize that you have to really work at it now– those casual encounters of "hey, let's meet after work, or let's go for a walk at lunch." Those things just don't happen, so you have to make them happen. You have to make the time to make them happen. I'm grateful that now that we've been vaccinated and boosted and many of us have had COVID, there seems to be some more freedom to be able to move around and connect and see each other.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
And in addition to the travel, you have been able to do as a result of being part of Culture you have upcoming travel as well.
Susan Axelrod:
Yes. I'm going to Wales in early November, my second stint as a judge for the World Cheese Awards. And this is very exciting! It was like the Olympics of cheese last year– there were 4,700 cheeses. I did not taste them all. I'm one of the 251st-tier judges. Each of us gets a table of about 45 cheeses to judge in a team. Then there are 16 super judges who determine the best in the show– the best in the world. It was supposed to be in Ukraine, which was disappointing. Hopefully, one day it will be in Ukraine. Interestingly, I'm in touch with a Ukrainian cheese maker who was on the super judging panel last year in Oviedo, Spain. And she keeps in touch and sends me essays regularly on how Ukrainian cheese makers are doing, and we publish them on our website. So that's pretty cool.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
Well, we are fortunate at the Portland Art Gallery to have you writing the Art Matters blog because clearly, you are a woman of the world and have many talents. And the fact that we're able to bring you into the group and have your talents be used for the benefit of our artists is really a wonderful thing.
Susan Axelrod:
Thank you. It truly is my pleasure, and I love staying in touch with the artists by coming to the openings. I really feel like I've gotten to know a number of them well, and it's always fun to see them at the First Thursday opening receptions. It is a mutual admiration between Portland Art Gallery and me. So thank you for the opportunity.
Dr. Lisa Belisle:
I've been speaking with Susan Sherrill Axelrod. You can read her pieces in Art Matters through the Portland Art Gallery. Come to one of our openings, and perhaps you will have a chance to meet her in person. Thanks so much for coming in today.
Susan Axelrod:
Thank you for having me.