Paintings for Death

Curtains and Candles
...a sampling of how death and loss inspire me.

no candles

RIP Uncle Pat

This past Friday my mother's brother, a favorite uncle of mine, died. He was in his beautiful home, peacefully attended to by his wife and sister-in-law.    ...We are all devastated.
It was sometime in mid December that his checkup came up strange- and with further screening it was revealed that cancer had invaded almost his entire body. He opted to not undergo any radical treatments and instead- went home the afternoon of his diagnosis- to change the bulbs and batteries in all the flashlights, smoke detectors, and hard to reach lights.

lined up flashlights ready to go

His concern was for his wife and, lucid to the very end, he taught her which bills to pay, filed the past year's income tax and assured her that their love was all that mattered. I tried to visit him each weekend, making the 2 hour drive across the Everglades each time. I found him only slightly diminished, always impeccably dressed, and a gentleman. He was stubbornly careful to avoid any discussion of his condition, and yet curious as to how we were doing. His smile, and sweet demeanor will always stay with me.

just weeks before he's gone

I was blessed to be a beneficiary of his hosting great meals at restaurants and yet I am still baffled by his simple tastes. Now I feel inspired to create a foodie pamphlet recalling those idiosyncrasies and sharing his down home menus and secret passions.

his 1/3 daily ration of favorite donut

If we all wonder how to lead a hedonistic 21st century globe-trotting life and still keep our figures- Uncle Pat could be the example. He was always about small portions and a pattern of intake. My mother swears he could still fit into the clothes of his youth well up into his 80's!
(more about this later)

here he is blending in with the other ascetics

Today I put together a painting of a bird, plunging to the sea, on plaster and burlap that tries to portray the beauty and flight of my lovely uncle.

When I feel sad, I have to create. It is how I get the bad feelings outside of me and how I can diminish their power over my psyche. I am sad my uncle is gone, but so glad, extremely glad, to have been a part of his life for however long I was granted. He showed me the stars and supported my wings.

On the Cover of JAVMA, at long last

At long last and in the nick of time! Ten years ago I stopped submitting work to my father's favorite veterinary journal. I had, for years, submitted paintings of my kids with the basset hound, a couple of cats and even chickens. So you cannot imagine my surprise when last fall the art director of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association contacted me about a painting I had submitted in 2008!
You see... it is almost never too late, and you never ever know what is going to happen if you put your work out there!

The sweetness of this issue is that my father, just 6 days ago, retired from his Veterinary practice of 43 years! His last day was in December and then "my cover" comes out in January... It is poetry.
Oh joy!

The painting- called Picky Pecky Hen, an encaustic on sewn paper , was sold years ago out of an exhibition at the Beacon Howland Cultural Center.

New works available in prints

It is a new year and I know that there are plenty of events to anticipate with glee. Three birthdays of friends happened yesterday! Not to be caught off guard again, I have just uploaded four celebratory dessert images that I created last year with palette knife and lots of paint leftover from my students' work.
These sweet and funky images might be perfect for conveying birthday wishes or any good will. On Fine Art America you can get greeting cards for under $5, tote-bags for $23, shower curtains, pouches, phone cases and more! Why not be a little different and have some real art on your gift offerings?

Thank you so much for looking. Let me know what you think and what you would like to see. I want to add new images every month. I am thinking flamingos or palm trees for February.

Words to live by

I am trying to savor the moments. I have even made a list. So goes the vacation!

sketchbook pages with words of wisdom

Dauphin Island with my youngest

Cleaning up

Sometimes creativity is abut straightening up and tossing out. I am puttering through my vacation days, using any motivation to clear up computer files, thin out the closets, and cull the best 2018 photos for the album. I've logged all my financial auto deductions in one place, and found matching lids to each storage bowl. Cleaning up is the theme as I move like a lawn mower through the Christmas holiday decorations. Two days ago Michael and I spent 3 hours in concert and speechless cleaning the apartment from ceiling to walls to floors. Thank goodness it is a small place! The sense of satisfaction was huge when we plopped down onto the freshly-warm-from-the-dryer sheets at the end of it.

Visiting my son in Mobile just before Christmas, he asked me to help organize his clothes in the spare room, transferring them from boxes, bins, and piles into fresh from Goodwill dressers. I loved the job of smoothing out his shirts and folding everything carefully, of organizing the pants into types (kahki, jeans, work, sweats, shorts), and placing them into drawers, tossing the holey socks and stretched out underwear, and trying to pair the loose socks. It was a perfect job for me to preen a little, groom a little, nurture a little of my grown up man-child. Here are some almost before, and after pictures.

I would have liked to give the dresser a coat of paint, but I am on a painting fast. No painting now for over a week, so I can feel what it is like not to be addicted or obsessed... so I can clean myself up a bit.