The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Cup and Saucer

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Cup 

and Saucer

Oil on Masonite

10"X8"

If Grannie only knew how often I think of her. How her crystal sparks memories. Special recipes recreated in the New World, served in her small kitchen. The unspoken sadness of what was lost mingled with the comfort of a family gathering. 

If she only knew I still make her porcupine cake and serve it on her crystal platter. Life goes on. And with it all the seemingly insignificant past that gets played again for the next generation. Nothing is lost.

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Platter

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Platter

Oil on Masonite

8"X10"

"The Things We Save" series continues, along with thoughts of my grandparents, parents, and all the others who have vanished from view. Memory of them is sparked by an inner thought, a certain phrase, or a fleeting moment that we might have shared. It's as if they are right in my midst. Buried deep inside my soul, alive and part of all that I am. People worry about being forgotten. Don't they know that the ones you love will carry you with them to the end of their days?

Summer is on the horizon, and I have been turning my attention to Maine. 

I am very pleased to report that Gleason Fine Art, in Maine, will now be exhibiting my work. My paintings will be included in their wonderful collection of coastal art in their Boothbay Harbor gallery. A selection of my paintings will also be shown this summer at Islesford Dock Gallery, on Little Cranberry Island, Maine.

And I am delighted that I have been chosen for another national juried exhibition sponsored by Still Point Art Gallery. This one is called "Still Point V." 30 Artists were selected. The exhibition is online and one of my paintings will be published in the Summer Issue of the "Still Point Arts Quarterly", available June 1. I highly recommend subscribing to the Quarterly. It is a treasure trove of beautiful art and writing.

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Candy Dish

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal Candy Dish

Oil on Masonite

8"X10"

 Esteban Salas, Cuban Baroque Music of the 18th Century is on full blast. The Exaudi Choir of Cuba sounds like attributes of my grandmother's crystal. Clear, precise, sharp, old world, and stirring to the soul. 

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal - Dessert Plate

The Things We Save - Grannie's Crystal - Dessert Plate

Oil on Masonite

8"X10"

In March of 2009 I wrote this:

"Grannie spirited her prize possessions out of Germany at the zero hour in 1939. They are in my hands now, and I think I will memorialize her by painting them, one by one."

I made 4 paintings and never finished the project. Today I start again.

Here are links to the previous paintings:

Grannie's Wine Glass

Grannie's Cream Pitcher

Grannie's Glass, Half Full

Grannie's Sugar Bowl

The Things We Save - Blue Coat - Painting

The Things We Save - Blue Coat

Oil on Masonite

10"X8"

Along with the sailor dress, my friend's mother saved this blue wool coat. Also beautifully preserved for 50 years, now it is having a new life as the subject of a painting. Not only that, but the whole episode has sent me on an investigation of the past, and holding on to things, and the meaning of things, and the fragility of life, and the passage of time, and missing my past, and oh so many memories. The present is the sum total of all of that, which might be why Life seems so full and precious at the moment. Surely my friend's mother had no idea that hanging on to her daughter's wardrobe would have meaning  to any of us out here. But there you go. Ripples make ripples make waves. What we do matters beyond our wildest dreams.

The Things We Save - Sailor Dress - Painting

The Things We Save - Sailor Dress

Oil on Masonite

10"X8"
This was my friend's dress worn in the 50s. A memory of a beloved daughter's childhood treasured and perfectly preserved by her mother who died recently. There it hung, cleaned and pressed and covered with plastic, hanging in the back of the small apartment closet, as if it might be put on and worn again any day. This is a tribute to a mother's devotion and love and the sweet  memory of youth.

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - House Keys

The Things She Carried - House Keys
Oil on Masonite

7"X5"
This concludes the contents of My Mother's Last Purse. Where do we go from here? 

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - Comb

The Things She Carried - Comb

Oil on Masonite

5"X7"

On the eve of Thanksgiving I am grateful. First for family and friends who love and are loved by me. They are my foundation and at the heart of all that I am. 

And health. Thanks to Dr Jessica Keane and Dr. Michael Parnes for restoring mine. 

And beauty that is everywhere, in the most mundane of objects we carry. 

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - Checkbook

The Things She Carried - Checkbook

Oil on Masonite

7"X5"

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - Wallet

The Things She Carried - Wallet

Oil on Masonite

7"X5"

It is green fabric, well worn, with velcro closures. Rustic. The kind an outdoorsman might stuff in his backpack. This is the wallet my mother carried.  $22 in one dollar bills, 17 fives, a ten and 2 twenties,  $100 traveler's check that will never be cashed.

Various i.d. with her photo and signature proving who she was, a poignant proof that she was here.  In amongst some business cards for massage and acupuncture is a receipt from a favorite dim sum restaurant where she dined with one of us, in the midst of Life, celebrating nothing in particular,  just weeks before hers ended.  Of all the things, that is the one that moves me most. A reminder to do and be and tell and celebrate each and every day.

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - Chapstick

Contents of My Mother's Last Purse - Chapstick

Oil on Masonite

7"X5"

Back to business. Celebrating the simple things that are our life. 

The Things We Save - The Things She Carried - Billfold

The Things She Carried - Billfold

Oil on Masonite

5"X7"

Billfold. Containing pesos. Leftover from a recent trip. Saved for a future trip. 

The Things We Save - My Mother's Last Purse - The Things She Carried

The Things She Carried

Oil on Wood

10"X10"

This was my mother's last traveling purse. And since she died away from home, this is the one that contains all the things she carried that day. Still there. Tucked away. After over 10 years. 

The Things We Save - My Mother's Last Purse

My Mother's Last Purse

Oil on Wood

10"X10"

Yesterday afternoon, I came upon my mother's last purse stashed away in a closet. I wept. Again. Encountering this relic of her life, I felt her presence and her absence as deeply as the day she died, over 10 years ago.  She was always looking for the perfect purse to carry life's necessities. It still contains her comb, a little kleenex, her wallet, id card, coin purse, and keys. I can't part with it. This morning, my friend, Pam, suggested it be the start of a new series, "My Mother's Last Purse." Good idea.  Maybe I'll line the walls with daily paintings of my mother's purse. Or maybe I'll paint its contents. We'll see where this goes.