Through her photography, this month’s artist, Channie Greenberg, seeks to capture “not only what’s ‘interesting,’ but also what’s beautiful” with her lens. Citing “gratitude” as one of the most significant driving forces behind her work, Greenberg’s photos feature both the natural wonders of “Creation” as well as “man-made items” that catch her eye. 

With an extensive bibliography, Greenberg considers writing, photography, “cooking, and, formerly, oboe playing” to be “creative forms of expression.” Greenberg shares with us the ways in which music influences her artistic process, as well as how she hopes to use creativity for good.

When did you first get into photography?

Elementary school. One of my favorite early photos was of hollyhocks.

In addition to your photography, you also create digital art. How would you say the two differ?

When I shoot photos, I listen to “the music in my head.” When I make digital paintings, on the other hand, I listen to instrumental music. Often, I listen to classical oboe concertos (which return me to my youth). My visual art process is very organic.

Are there any other mediums you’re interested in exploring?

I’ve been blessed to have more than four dozen novels, poetry collections, essay collections, fiction collections, and a full-length musical published/produced. I’ve been blessed to have my photos and my digital art published, to have my paintings in galleries, and more. To boot, I’ve woven baskets, worked in clay, fashioned fused glass objects, etc.

I’m not looking for new media as much as I am seeking ways to use my creativity for good ends. Cooking for literal orphans and widows is one such way. Teaching verbal or visual art to other folks, especially to people with an “I can’t” attitude, is another.

KJ Hannah Greenberg’s been playing with words for an awfully long time. Initially a rhetoric professor and a National Endowment for the Humanities Scholar, she shed her academic laurels to romp around with a prickle of imaginary hedgehogs. Thereafter, her creative efforts have been nominated once for The Best of the Net in poetry, once for The Best of the Net in art, three times for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for poetry, once for the Pushcart Prize in Literature for fiction, once for the Million Writers Award for fiction, and once for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. Her digital paintings accompany her poetry in Miscellaneous Parlor Tricks (Seashell Books, 2024, Forthcoming), Word Magpie (Audience Askew, 2024), Subrogation (Seashell Books, 2023), and One-Handed Pianist (Hekate Publishing, 2021).