to marilyn from larry

Larry wanders into the drawing studio in October. My class is outside working on a landscape assignment. He asks about art and the studios in general. He knows the building, he says he works the air-conditioning and heating in the Fine Arts department.

My students are working outside this week. If you have anything you need to do in here, feel free. He comments about art and says he doesn’t know a lot about it. I sense he has a question.

Larry explains his sister has lung cancer. She lives in Pennsylvania and he would like to send her something special…maybe art. I don’t hesitate to tell him art is especially thoughtful.

What are you thinking? Do you have something in mind?

Marilyn, rescues dogs. I listen to him tell about the many senior dogs she rescues. She cares for them until the end. He describes a graveyard she has for them, where each dog has its own headstone. 

Your sister Marilyn sounds pretty special.

Larry would like a drawing made for his sister. He has an idea and shows me. Do you know anyone who can do this for me?

I happen to know the perfect student for the job. Maw, in his second semester with me, and a Fischl Scholar, agrees to do the work. Within a few days him and Larry are in communication.

Maw spends time researching in the library and returns to the classroom to begin working out details which include Marilyn’s home and her many dogs. We discuss material including charcoal, color pencil, graphite, pastel and BFK rag paper.

Maw organizes a general layout and invites Larry to come and see.

Maw and Larry holding the now titled To Marilyn, Dogs on Duffy

All along I talk to the class about what Maw is doing. I invite them to ask questions. It’s valuable knowledge.

Larry returns one more time to okay the final composition before we spray and fix the work.

We carefully tube the drawing Larry will send to his sisters in Pennsylvania, for framing. We hope Marilyn will have it by Christmas.

Before Larry leaves Maw gifts him a fine art print he made while visiting the Grand Canyon with his father.

Maw, you rock!

Marilyn, we wish you the very best. You have a great brother!

To Marilyn – Dogs on Duffy

#yougottahaveart

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Marylyn Jean Blair
Oct 8, 1946-February 21, 2019
Rest in peace.

no woman is an island

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.
― Rumi

 

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I have worked on this commission for most of the last 3 weeks. Normally I don’t do this kind of work that fast, I tell Terri yesterday when I deliver the completed, though unframed, large work on paper. I enjoyed it and I struggled with it. In general my drawing is changing, I am including much more information, if I can figure it out.

There are things about this composition I don’t normally set up to do – like a smiling face. Because I told Terri to stand in a natural way and she stood firm, bright-eyed, strong, chin up and she smiled, I worked very hard to get the face just right – eyes, smile and all.

Here are a few progressive shots of it:

general sketch

 

refinement and muscle structure

 

anatomy goes in

completed head includes cranial nerves in and out the head

I wish I could take that, Terri points to all the internal anatomy in the artwork, and place it here, inside me – she points to her chest. It came from you, I say as I laugh. She nods and repeats herself, I wish I could bring that inside me, now.  That’s a great thing to hear.

This is an anatomy study , it’s a study of an energetic system, it’s Terri. And Terri has brain cancer.

I ask if she is okay with me sharing all this. She nods her head – Yes, I am. I ask a few more times. I feel protective. But whom am I protecting, I wonder. Terri is accepting of her life. Her son, who is present, agrees – she’s accepting it all!  Terri is forthcoming about where she finds herself, and she’s at peace. I see it in her expression. I hear it in her voice. She tells me she’s had 3 other cancers – of the colon, in the sacrum, in the lungs, and now – the brain.

I consider the physical body a lot these days, as I immerse myself in these anatomy studies. The body serves a great purpose, it holds the spirit. As human beings we live and connect with it and through it.

I prefer to use medical terminology when I title a work. This could be different, it is a human body, a female front body, from head to hips. It is a  Study of a Human Female Body, Anterior View. But I am thinking of another title, a sub-title, something like –  Inside me, Inside you.

Thanks again Terri. It’s been some assignment to study your spirit – strong-willed and so directed.

The work is casein, gesso and graphite on cream Arches paper, 36″ x 25″

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The blog posts titled No Woman is an Island acknowledge the people and/or organizations who support me and the work I do.

The art in this post connects to another work completed in 2012. Terri and Patricaia traveled to Italy recently and upon their return, drove to California and married.

a new commission

 A circle is the reflection of eternity. It has no beginning and it has no end – and if you put several circles over each other then you get a spiral. ~MJK

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I work on a commission –  a painting on paper of a female front body – head to hips. I began 2 weeks ago when I photographed and outlined Terri, on a Sunday afternoon. The colors, forms and angles on this life-size study feel different to me and so I move more slow and careful. Each day I detail out one or two organs. I have a few more anatomical systems to bring in that will pull the structure together more. Of course I also plan to work the background. I know the composition will look different even a week from today, so I document process.

Someone asked what I read – he was curious, he said. As I work on this I am both listening to and reading Caroline Myss who deals with the energetic systems of the human body. Myss looks at everything as symbol. I understand this.

 

 

No Woman is an Island.

 

a jerusalem cricket

This bug is neither from Jerusalem nor is it related to a cricket. It is found across the western United States and Mexico. Years ago I met one in the Texas desert. It jumped, I ran. In Spanish it is called Niño de la Tierra – which translates to Child of the Earth. The one I met had a lighter colored head, more truly like a baby. This one is darker.  They are also known as Potato Bugs. They have many Navajo names that all refer to the insects head:

c’ic’in lici (Tsiitsʼiin łichíʼí) “red-skull”
c’os bic’ic lici (Chʼosh bitsiitsʼiin łichíʼí) “red-skull bug”
c’ic’in lici’ I coh (Tsiitsʼiin łichíʼítsoh) “big red-skull”
wo se c’ini or rositsini or yo sic’ini (Wóó tsiitsʼiin/Yaaʼ tsiitsʼiiní) “skull insect”

While the nocturnal insect has strong mandibles it has a supposed meek disposition. It may bite if threatened – but no worry, the bite is not venomous.

I think my almost complete painting resembles Talavera pottery. Somehow it goes from creepy (above) to sweet (below). I had the similar challenge with this bug as I had with the Palo Verde Beetle.  I work at keeping translucent what should really be darker  and opaque – so one could still note the anatomy. I may go darker if I find a balance.

 

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Every summer for the last few years, I spend a week doing a drawing a day. This year I focus on a series of small bug works. The time line is more like a bug a week. I intended to only make four, but as bugs came my way (via friends) I kept thinking – only one more. I enjoyed the learning experience so much I doubled the plan.

Some of my bugs will show at the i.d.e.a. Museum in an invitational  titled Jeepers Creepers – Bugs in Art Exhibition. The show opens in October and will be in partnership with the ASU natural history entomology collection.

This Jerusalem Cricket is commissioned by Liz Casebolt and her cat Charlie Goodyear. Liz was my neighbor here in Phoenix. She now lives in Burbank – hence the AZ and CA maps in the background of the artwork.

Thanks Liz –  No Woman is an Island.

nothing in stasis

Subtle – from the series Nothing In Stasis
Casein on Paper
36″ x  25″

I can tell you more about this commissioned artwork, about the framing, the tile wall it sits on, and the search for a hanging system. I could share lots of little details about how things played out. And about the poem that made its way here. There’s story.
But all I really want to say is today we hung the work titled Subtle.

She is in a beautiful environment of her own. Namaste’ Patricia.

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“Circles” by Hafiz

The moon is most happy
When it is full.

And the sun always looks
Like a perfectly minted gold coin

That was just Polished
And places in flight
By God’s playful Kiss.

And so many varieties of fruit
Hang plump and round

From branches that seem like a Sculptor’s hands.

I see the beautiful curve of a pregnant belly
Shaped by a soul within,

And the Earth itself,
And the planets and the Spheres–

I have gotten the hint:

There is something about circles
The Beloved likes.

Hafiz,
Within the Circle of a Perfect One

There is an Infinite Community
Of Light.

the subtle body – nothing in stasis

Subtle
in ref. to things – of thin consistency
in ref. to craftsmen – skilled, clever
From O.Fr. soutil, from L. subtilis  – fine, thin, delicate, finely woven
from sub under + -tilis from tela web
texere to weave

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I like the desaturated photograph below. It comes alive in a different way, for me. I have documented most everything in both color and black and white for this new series.

The work represents the posterior view of a female torso. I’ve completed a male posterior already. I use a model (the person who commissioned the work) for the initial layout. It’s a 36″ x 25″, casein and graphite painting, on a fine sheet of cream Arches paper. I’ve been working on it for about 3 weeks.

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The moment of change is the only poem.   – Adrienne Rich

 

no woman is an island…cont.

This post is about Joe and Jane from San Antonio, the patron saint of kitchen and cooks San Pasqual, and about a commission (…no woman is an island).

San Pasqual, Patron Saint of Cooks and Kitchen

On Friday, March 18th, I receive an email from Jane.  She found my blog and read about the  San Pasqual tile mural I’d designed for Greg and Veronica, back in 2008. How did she find that posting, I wondered. I don’t know, but I’m glad she did.

I love your San Pasqual mural and am looking for same for my renovated kitchen that I am doing in Talavera tile. Are you still painting tiles?
Hit Reply, Yes. Send.
Our conversation continues over the telephone. Before the call ends, I’m surprised to learn Jane lives in San Antonio. I’m originally from Texas. I spent one college summer working in San Antonio. It’s good to make this connection and I am pleased to take the commission. She’s excited with her project.  I’m excited with mine.

After more communication to gather information to personalize the small mural, I begin prep work and design. To be included are their 2 dogs: Sophie their pup, and Sarah who’s with them now, only in spirit. Jane bakes bread. Joe bakes Cherry pies, in a red pie pan. They love cardinals and squirrels. Jane sends along a quote that had been on the wall of the new home, Júntate con los buenos y serás uno de ellos. Gather together with the good ones, and you’ll be one of them. She shares a few more details for me to pick and choose from. My sketch takes hold. Later she sends me a photo of a heart that holds the couples initials. It’s a playful note her husband painted onto a bare wall, pre-remodel. Could you include this, she asks. Of course…it’s just the right story telling element.

San Pasqual has symbols connected to him, and some appear in the design. He’s devoted to the Holy Eucharist. It’s believed that he cooked in a monastery and his kitchen duties were miraculously taken care of because his devotion was so great.  It is said he fed the poor, and story has it that his baskets were always miraculously refilled.  I include the chalice, and a basket.  I show him with a (grey and white) cat, because he is also caretaker to domestic animals, and a grey cat often accompanies his image. I use my tabby as the model.  I include the cardinals, a red male and a golden female and below them, in a nest, a young male peeks out…(in this case representing the family).

Jane asks for Iris’s, Bluebonnets, and Geraniums. I want color across the bottom scroll of words, and this is the perfect solution. She tells me about the squirrels in their backyard, a squirrel appears at the upper right corner of the arch. I include hummingbirds, a personal favorite symbol.  They represent spirit, holy spirit. Native American legend tells that if you are ever lost in the desert, look for  the hummingbird to lead you out. Jane tells me Joe feeds and photographs hummingbirds all summer. I include a turtle, because I receive a card from Jane that Joe has designed. It’s a photograph of turtles.

Finally she tells me to please include the year 2011 somewhere in the composition. And then ends the email with…
Please sign the mural..and then visit it in San Antonio.
I can do that.

a hubcap for sam

A Studebaker hub cap arrives UPS to my studio, from Meadowland, Minnesota. Sam placed the order himself. Unbeknownst to him, the hubcap is his birthday present.

Greg and Veronica commission a painted and personalized hubcap for Sam.  Commission, good in that I generally do something I wouldn’t otherwise do. Out of my comfort zone. New challenge. Problems arise. Solutions follow.

Once upon a time, I painted my first hubcap  (9-11/08 You Rock!). Didn’t necessarily like the experience, but I liked end result. The exhibition, at the Mesa Arts Center, very hip. Artists created cool and thoughtful designs.

This second round of hubcap painting, a good time from the start. Feeling open. I research a few choice subjects, learn some interesting things I’ll be considering to use. I start to paint. Two challenges. One, design of the hubcap itself, space is compartmentalized in a way that doesn’t suit my original idea. Enter in…a new idea.
Two, painting on metal…bleh.  It doesn’t f-e-e-l good. A hubcap is a hard, unforgiving, and an easy to damage surface. Not like a beautiful smooth sheet of BFK or Arches paper or heavy-duty, giving to the touch, pristine canvas. Sand and prime, sand and prime.

The Studebaker emblem, in the center…it’s supposed to be an ‘S’ but it looks more like a  ~ (…squiggle) to me. I know what to do with it.
Why a Studebaker hubcap? Let me tell you about Sam…

Indeed, Sam has a Studebaker. Sam has several cars. And a Harley Davidson bike.  He’s designed for himself, one beautiful garage. He spends time in that space. Check out the striking black and white floor tile, it’ll appear in the final hubcap design.

I meet Sam and Francene, over spring break, up in Northern Arizona. The information gathering begins quickly.
I learn Sam is born in Missouri, and now lives in Arizona, with his wife, Francene. Francene is in on the surprise. She shares how they meet. I decide, after her account, the relationship has to be Kismet. The circular center S/~ (…. squiggle) on the hubcap will become a yin/yang, symbolizing a balance of female and male energy. It’s what I see between them, strong balance.

Sam’s a retired Engineer (Aviation?…maybe.  Aerospace?…maybe.). We have dinner at La Posada, in Winslow Az (yes…we do sing The Eagles song while arriving there). He talks about building Apache helicopters. An unusual conversation, in an off the beaten path location, with an extra-ordinary man, good company, spirited waiters, and excellent food. Told you this was fun. I learn Sam can build just about anything. And he’s green! Veronica enthusiastically says. Meaning…he’s conscientious and recycles. The shelving for his garage comes from the close out sale, of a CVS. I like Sam. He’s creative. Engineers usually are. I get the sense that he enjoys learning and maybe even teaching his skills. He appreciates history. While walking the restaurant grounds, he tells me about  Mary Jane Colter, the early American architect, who created the landmark building we’re walking through. He talks about her as though he knows her. I’m impressed. He’s kind and generous, and has a precision about him. I learn from friends he faithful, loyal and LOVES Dos Equis beer. When I hear the latter, I know the emblem will appear in the hubcap design.

His favorite animal, at the moment, is the mountain lion, hence the paw designs on either side of the hubcap.  He describes the animal as strong, elusive and vulnerable. Purple, he tells Veronica (cuz she asks), is his current favorite color. He describes it as regal, stoic and compatible. These descriptive words say something about him. They’re the last design element to go into the circular composition. I paint the outer edge of the rim a deep purple, with a copper metallic wash, and I place in the text.

Overall, I get the sense that Sam is an intelligent and thoughtful man. He’s comfortable in blue jeans, a cowboy hat and boots. I want to put his distinct profile into the hubcap. The small areas don’t allow me enough room.  I do include a small frontal view portrait. Though my preference would be, that it appear larger. Design is resolved. It’s balanced, measured out, and clear.

I realize only now as I write, Sam is a Taurus. An earth sign. Fixed fire. No wonder he felt so familiar to me.  Both my husband and my dad are Bulls….persevering, down-to-earth, stable, stubborn, possessive, prosperous, dependable, and physical. Now I see why I instinctively put that copper wash atop the purple. Copper is the Bull’s metal.

Both Sam and Francene have interesting histories they openly share. This circle of life…is sure to continue.
Happy Birthday Sam.  And many more!

karl and helga-a fantastic story

In the book On Writing author Stephen King shares with the reader his approach to writing a story. I note he describes almost the same process I used for many of the commissions I painted this year – the ones that were narratives. He writes about the value of being aware of what he wants his reader to experience.  I think about my audience, and their experience, at the start of most everything I do. King writes on translating what he visualizes in his mind, into words on a page. I translate my thoughts  into signs and symbols and place them on to a canvas. He notes another quality, and yes, I use it too…allow the reader (the viewer, in my case) to supply some information. And then…he says…it’s all about the story…

Part 2 of this story goes like this…
The commission:

I meet with Dominique in early January, on a Saturday afternoon, to discuss a commission. She has in mind a family portrait.
She informs me of the two main characters, the focal points, her father Karl and her mother Helga.  Karl has been in spirit for at least a decade. Dominique is considering presenting a family portrait to her mother. I don’t know why I imagine that she might keep it for herself. I ask her if it’s possible that she could keep it.  Well, of course, I suppose that’s possible, she says.
I can’t meet Karl in body, to get a sense of him. Nor can I really sit and talk with Helga as it would ruin the surprise (if there’s to be one). I rely on Dominique’s descriptions and stories. Important to me are her facial and body expression as she shares details. We spend the Saturday discussing what appears to me to be a magical childhood. I’m sure Karl is present that afternoon…and maybe even Helga for that matter. I leave hours later with notes, photos, and a few unusual shells. The shells are a gift.

content begins to take form

Part 1
The Wichtl’s:

Karl Ferdinand Wichtl and Helga Maria Hörmann marry in Vienna, on Sept 21, 1958.

Karl, born March 19, 1932. The life of the party, over indulges in everything, Dominique tells me…food, drink, kindness, celebration…all of it!  I like hearing about Karl, he’s a character. A free spirit. Yet practical! Self educated. Oil engineer. She smiles, lost in remembrance. He loved to have fun. He was also the one who made sure everyone else was having fun too. He wore wacky, crazy ties, thin, red leather, he had sideburns, he drank a lot, and he ate a lot…again, she smiles. He was a self-made man, very intelligent. And he had green eyes. Karl liked Boynton cartoons and treasure hunts. He liked the word FANTASTIC and used it often. She tells me a bit about his mother and father, her grandparents.
And she tells me how much Helga loved Karl.

Helga,born December 13, 1937, she is…intelligent, tenacious, disciplined and organized. Very organized! Dominique stresses. She held down the fort, she had to, we moved every few years. She was brilliant! Helga was an oil brat. Education was important to her. Dominique comes back to the present…light green eyes and… she…loves… black pearls.

I want the feeling of happiness in the work.  Joy! Freedom! Bare feet! Dominique quickly starts to give visual possibilities but I don’t listen to all of it…I get the picture. She comes back to the word fantastic…everything was fantastic to Karl. With that word I begin and with that word I end.

processing

and more processing

We use to vacation in Bora Bora. The request is for a Polynesian landscape. Two other characters are important to this story – Dominique and her sister Patricia. We spent a lot of time in the water, like fishies. The four of us, all the time. Scuba diving. Collecting shells. She shares photos of their water escapades.

I begin the composition with an outline in treasure hunt format and then a cobalt sea floods in and takes over.  I follow some of the barely visible trails and insert an oil rig in one spot, a representation of Karl’s work. His job took his family across the world.

An imaginary boat named “The Fantastic” gets placed strategically across the rig (in another treasure hunt spot), signifying balance, of work and play, the real and the fantastical.  In the far background is the family, in bright silhouette. I borrow the familial image from the tarot deck. They point up to a cloud filled DNA strand where 8 birds fly, representing each daughter and her respective husband and children, the generations that would day come.  The sun or the moon, I can’t say which, sits in the horizon and deposits light across the water, in the form of South America where the family lived for some time and where Dominique is born.  Austria floats in the foreground, where Karl and Helga marry and Patricia is born. The masculine sun, and the feminine moon also act as time elements, night and day, day and night, on and on. Eternity above (infinity) and beneath Karl and Helga. The white dog represents Helga’s favored family pet. The cup of abundance and four fish shooting upwards…four shells collect around the cup…four sea horses make their way into the art work…family of four.

I fill the landscape with palm trees…lots of vegetation, sky and clouds, and a bungalow…all accurate to the photos I borrowed.
Wild and calm bright blue, full of life, fluid, magical is The Fantastic Tale of Karl and Helga.

Part 3
The story doesn’t end here.

…I complete the painting in May.  Dominique has it in her possession today. Where will it land?  I suspect it will move several times…belong to one generation and then another, and perhaps another. The story will only continue. Fantastic!

another ex-voto

Margarita left a message on my answering machine last summer. My siblings and I  would like to commission you to create an ex- voto for Dolores. Call me.
This is the beginning of a lively creative process with the Marquez family. Before the work is complete, about 9 months later, I hear memories, events, and stories about my friend Dolores. I learn about the strong Marquez family connection.
The siblings had already commissioned an ex-voto from me, in celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of their parents. This new one will be in thanks and celebration of Dolores’s 50th birthday.  I want input from all of them. The process begins one way, and ends in another. Busy energetic picture becomes clear intimate portrait.

Margarita begins: I have been praying and thinking about the gift for Dolores. Thoughts that come to mind…Her children, Elisa and Jose, are very special to her. As are Family, the Arts, wines, good book, gathering with women, simple, elegant, classy, colorful art.

Leo’s organized and detailed addition follows:
The “royalty” photo  of Dolores and her sisters as the center of the piece, with the four sisters  pointing to her <<ELISA,  please attempt to steal photograph, photocopy, then return to your  Mom’s desk…cue Pink Panther music>>.
Elisa is Dolores’s oldest daughter.  We are instigating thievery, but I am certain Dolores supports the Pink Panther twist.

my processing all the info

Mom and  Dad’s wedding picture or otherwise symbolized.  Elisa and Jose on the  Brophy (family) chair.  The crown with jewels, of course,  since the artist dreamed about it.
I’d dreamt about Dolores being handed a jeweled crown. The crown symbolizes honor, position, and also transition. It’s appropriate.
Leo continues, Our Lady of Sorrows (for Dolores) or  Our Lady of Guadalupe (for Latin America).
I knew ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’ would be in the image, the connecting element to the first ex vote.
Other images:  musical notes and treble clef, books (authors Allende and Alvarez for sure, which others?), Latin American folk art (papel  picado, ceramic cross, paper flowers, Frida, etc.), passport or bus or  airplane for travel (overloaded Mexican bus might be fun), wine, coffee,  Scrabble (since she is a woman of letters).
A woman of  letters? Wonder what this means?
Leo goes on, Other  themes:
Independence (orange Volkswagen??  Keys (could be car, could be apartment)
Indignity (starting  at age 11 months with birth of twins, beginning her  “reign”)
Beauty (she taught  the rest of us about makeup and high heels)
About the shoes…I learn, on a visit to Dolores’s home, she has many of them. I say to her, Wow…you sure do own lots of shoes! She replies, with a smile, I love shoes! Intrigues me. I have mixed feelings about shoes. A free foot is a happy foot, but a cool shoe, is after-all, a cool shoe.
Leo continues:
Culture (museums,  docent stuff)
Music (recorded,  live)
Girlfriends (very  important to her, starting with the 5 in her immediate  family)
Leo is organized, I’m impressed. Margarita indicates many of these same symbols in our conversations.

Aurthur chimes in:
If there was a way to include the picture of Dolores as a toddler digging into the can of Nestlé’s chocolate mix…. Ok, maybe not for an ex voto…
…and about the “smelly boys”?  I’ll have you know that I took no less than 5 baths last month, at least two of them willingly…  a new record!
One of the sisters had made reference to the “2 smelly boys,” the 2 brothers. Should I get permission to include the comment here? Nah! Anyone with a brother gets it.

content forming

Mom and Dad contribute prayer, an important element in an ex-voto,
Thank you Dear Lord for the gift of our beautiful  Dolores.  Everthing she is reflects Your Goodness.
or
Thank you Dear Lord for the gift of Dolores.  Her life reflects Your Goodness.
A combination of the two goes into the art.

Mom notes: For Michael we can use the Volkswagen with a Marathon Run’s sign and traveling labels since he’s traveled to Mexico, South America and Europe. For Arthur, we can use Scrabble and a computer. The computer is his really passion and love.

Lots of ideas and images. The composition is active. I gather all information and make a decision. Simplify. Rather than include everyone as figures and stories into the ex voto, I will represent each one as a symbol. The figure of Dolores will be the focal point. It will become a puzzle for her to piece together. I inform the Marquez clan about the change and ask each to send me a symbol representing themselves. I don’t want them to discuss their choice with anyone. All of them will be surprised.

Gathering up this second round of information is as interesting and amusing as prior communication. The set up is clear and specific.
Mrs. Marquez’s sends out the word. It’s her blessing for my new idea….

Hi Monica and my children and grands,
You have been very patient with us trying to get our ideas.  I think that the artist should be given the freedom to create and not be hindered by ‘opinons’ or whatever from us.  Giving you ideas is ok but  us trying to guide you may not be in our or your best interest.  I say let us give you the symbols of each and you run with it, we have “helped” you enough.  The Good Lord has blessed you with lots of creative juices…go to it girl!!
It’s signed, THE MATRIARCH HAS SPOKEN!

Ahhhh….the power.

Margarita: My mom is soooo funny and truthful!!!!  My image is one of two things…  a sewing machine or a piece of fabric with needle & thread.

Arthur

Arthur: Dolores and I love to play Scrabble.  A Scrabble tile or two would be a perfect symbol for me. BTW, I love the idea of symbols for each of us…

Leo:

Leo

In the past 10 years or so, I’ve become somewhat famous, in Marquez circles, for my stick people.  For the 40th birthday parties or for other celebrations in my family, I’ve retold stories using my stick people.

 

 

 

Martha:  I am a Registered Nurse.  The symbols I thought about were an oil lamp, candle, or healing hands.  I educate patients and promote natural remedies like good nutrition, exercise, massage, and change in thought to uplifting positive thinking.  The glowing hands might symbolize me the best.

Patty

Patty:  I wanted to use boots like shown here in black but make them pink like in the other picture.  I LOVE pink.  The “boots” are when we went on a trip together and I was SO excited that I got some boots.  (long story but Dolores knows) .

Dad:  For my symbol, use a lightning strike, for electrical engineering.

Mom: My symbol can be 5 little somethings and 2 little somethings representing the 7 kids, since that is all I did for the first 20 plus years of our marriage OR a  cane to represent my work in the field of aging.  Use whatever fits for your creation.
I chose the 7 little somethings (stars, inspired from Sandy Brophy’s needlepoint).

Michael is last but not least. A man of few words.  A VW is fine for me. Said and done.

This is exactly how this ex-voto came to be.

I include things from my own memory of Dolores. The dress, a reminder of the first time we connect here in Phoenix.  She arrives to one of my art openings dressed very elegantly, in black. The luminarios, I admire a string of them across her back door. The photo collage of her mom and dad, in the upper left corner, is from the anniversary invitation. Her kids, Elisa and Jose,  painted in as she is, are central to her life. Her home, the final design of the ex voto, represents sacred space. Family in book representation, clearly the book ends on either side of her, support from beginning to end.

The original image of Dolores presented her in long hair. Having already completed her in the work, one Saturday afternoon in February she came to dinner. She arrived with a new hairdo!  I’d hid the ex-voto, as well as all the photos and notes before she arrived to our home so she would know nothing. A secret. The day after the dinner I redid her hair in the artwork. It was a slight retouch, indicating the ex-voto was on its way to its current completion.
She’s cut her hair again since then.  Transition…it’s what life is all about.

Happy Birthday Dolores.