February Moon, Honor Truth; 30X30 Acrylic and Glitter on Canvas, 2018
This painting was started on the day of the massacre at Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas highschool, February 14, 2018, the new moon of the February moon cycle. The painting was my effort to make sense of another senseless tragedy. Completed over a few long days at the canvas, it emerged as a message of the hope and renewal that is possible when honoring the depth of such tragedy.
The color representing February’s moon cycle gray, the color against which all other colors show up in their most true hue, holds the space at the center of the painting. The red brush strokes mark the loss of life, pooling red at the bottom of the painting, where red roses of hope emerge. The moon flower is represented in her life cycle, a reminder of the renewal possible. In Twylah Nitsch’s teaching, this moon cycle calls each of us to honor the whole truth of ourselves, and of each situation. Gratefully student survivors of the Stoneman-Dougless shooting continue their efforts to honor their fallen fellows by speaking out and working for gun sanity.
May Moon, Hear Truth; 10X30, Acrylic on Canvas, 2020
This painting of the May Moon was inspired during a walk with a friend in May 2019. Although the moon was only in crescent, the night sky was so bright the moon’s shadow was visible to the eye and the moon’s light reflected off the telephone and electrical wires that crisscrossed in front of the low hanging moon. A distant streetlight mimicked a full moon. As we stood absorbing the scene, Elon Musk was launching his first 60 starlink satellites. Their sudden appearance overhead startled us-of course we didn’t know what they were and laughed that maybe we were being invaded by aliens. I snapped a picture with my phone. While I didn’t capture Musk’s satellites, I did capture provocative image that juxtaposed the teaching of the May moon on becoming willing to ‘Hear Truth’ with the wires and posts of technology. The resulting painting ponders the power of technology to influence what and how we hear, as well as its impact on nature.
June Moon, Red Madonna, Speaking Truths; 36X36 Acrylic on Canvas, 2019-2022
This painting speaks for the moon cycle of June, where a willingness to speak truth is the next step in growing as humans. She emerged over a 3-year period, and except for each painted star where I marked another death by gun or police violence, she sat unfinished for 18 months until March of 2022. Some of some of the memorial markings remain visible in the painting. This March I saw in my mind’s eye how image she wanted to express herself, and the final layer of painting burst forth on the canvas.
The Red Madonna comes from a long linage of truth speakers which are visible in the shadows, and whose hands reach out in support. We are not alone. The Red Madonna arrives at a critical time when truth-speaking is urgently needed. She is not definitely not afraid to Speak Truth! From her basket, she generously disperses courage to the rest of us, that we may follow in her lead. Coyote, the trickster, is close by reminding us to be aware. On her other arm, the child represents those who would come after us, who are depending on our courage to Speak Truth.
Artist’s Bio – I knew I wanted to be an artist since I was seven and sat at the kitchen table watching with awestruck admiration as my mother hand-drew the most beautiful paper dolls for my sister and me. That little girl who dreamed of living as an artist was very patient; 57 years patient. Finally, in the spring of 2017, just before my 64 th birthday, I closed my professional psychotherapy practice and my office transformed into a studio.
The canvas of my life has been painted by all my mishaps and miracles; each a necessary experience on
my way to finally answering my dream to live as an artist. My process continues unfolding as I embrace
artmaking as my spiritual practice. Mostly I just paint.
In painting, my brush is the conduit that connects my body to Divine Spirit. Paint flows from my brush
and expresses the feeling and emotion of that connection. Inspiration for the painting comes first. I fill the canvas in swaths of color. Painting in words come next. Then, the painting’s vision appears layer by
layer, as what was painted before peeks through. This process of revealing the earlier work is a visual
metaphor for the realities of life. Our histories and our potentials always show through.