Christmas 1969

There are some memories that stay with you, happy or sad. Christmas when I was small was an actually happy memory. Above is my oil painting, below, I am showing you the Polaroid photo that inspired one of my first black and white paintings from my series of family photos. Photos have a way of invoking such memory-the feel of the non skid padding on the feet of my pajamas, the pressing of the rollers against my ears, the smell of evergreen, memories of those tacky plastic curtains that hung on the living room windows... :0) I loved helping hang the Christmas cards all around our archway and decorating the tree. Some of the other paintings from this time, like "Holy Communion" (Blog post July 2008) have a very eerie, depressed feeling to them, reflecting my feelings of the time. This one reflects

the nostalgia and simplicity of the time as well as my little girl Christmas excitement.