Member Profiles in Creativity

With the pandemic careening into its ninth month, we asked a few of our SAG-AFTRA New Mexico Local members what they were doing to keep their creativity flowing and sanity intact during these trying times.

Kimberly Kiegel maintains that it’s the creativity that helps her keep her sanity. “I find that if I pay regular attention to my creative and spiritual needs, it really helps me from going off the deep end,” she says. While working as a realtor and binge-watching Netflix keeps her introverted self fairly content, she says it doesn’t scratch her creative itch, so she’s been taking advantage of New Mexico’s wealth of acting coaches and teachers for some online training.

Andrea Kepple has done some online workshops as well, but has found her grounding in nature, gardening, taking daily walks — which her dogs love — as well as hikes and even a backpacking trip with a friend. “I’ve been learning to utilize this gift of more time to nurture myself — something I definitely wasn’t doing as much as I needed before COVID-19,” she says. Leaving her painted rocks in places for others to find has brought her unexpected joy, as has cooking. She has tried new recipes and some dishes of her own invention.

Bob Jesser has also found ways to deal with the pandemic. “I don’t have any control of the world around me, but I can choose how I deal with it,” he says. His way of dealing with it has been to focus on keeping himself physically, mentally and emotionally healthy. For him, this includes daily exercise and working on his craft, watching great movies and interviews, reading books and working on his acting materials and voice.

While all of these members have been working on their craft during these days of dark sets, there is some hope on the horizon. Kiegel booked a day on Them: Covenant, one of the first productions to reopen. We can all relate to her when she says, “I am very excited to see productions start casting again and am hopeful with all the pandemic protocols we can continue working and enjoying our creativity in pursuit of a project.”

—    This item originally appeared in the New Mexico Local newsletter