The Last Time We Saw Our Friend Chris

Although the people are painted in my self taught folk art style, this is obviously not a happy situation. Our dear friend Chris was killed in a head on collision 2 days before Christmas in 1993. He was the loveliest person , a generous soul, with a great laugh and wicked sense of humor. As I do with so many experiences in my life, I work through my thoughts, feelings and impressions by painting. In this painting we see Chris surrounded by the beautiful stained glass at the feet of Jesus. His sister, brother and parents are all at the front with the Mom facing directly at the viewer as if confronting us with her pain. All the people sitting and filing in were talking, comforting and shaking their heads at what a loss it was for us all.

Radiant Child

Need I say more?

I Dreamed I was Anna Pavlova

When I was a little girl, I took tap, jazz and ballet classes. Like most kids, I went through a series of "what I am going to be when I grow up" phases. By the time I was 11 and had started dancing on point slippers, I was more in love with ballet than ever. I would go to the library and look at books with pictures of all the famous ballet dancers and none impressed me more than Anna Pavlova in her Swan Lake costume. I thought she was so beautiful and graceful and nothing could be more glamorous than dancing under hot lights for an audience of thousands. Thus went my daydreams.... Sadly, by the time  I was 12

 a major upset occurred in my life which took me away from the teacher I loved and the classes I was used to. I didn't adjust very well and ended up hanging up my toe shoes and dancing Swan Lake only in my dreams, a decision I still regret to this day. The painting is me as Anna Pavlova  in my Swan Lake costume.

Mother: Saint or Sinner?

Painted around 1993 as I was on the verge of becoming a mother myself, I began to reflect on my feelings about and the relationship with my own mother who had died 8 years earlier.  As I sorted through a wide range of emotions and saw the conflicts on so many levels, I realized that I was trying to make a decision, a judgement in black and white about who she was. Was she a Saint, or was she a sinner? all good or all bad? I painted this from my memory of her with her white hair and paisley housecoat, her cigarette, her yellowed fingers and wrinkled skin. I think I even captured the pain in her eyes. Having been a Mom now for 14 1/2 years, I have finally grown up and realized, she was just a person, like me, doing the best she knew how.

The Confused Thoughts of an Angry Cow

One of my earlier Cow paintings, this one is a scream! Literally, I painted this around 1993 when I had a lot on my mind, felt angry and was having a hard time making sense of things. My cows and other paintings will often be autobiographical of situations I might be in or feelings I am experiencing. Thank God for art. I don't know what other people do. :-)