old self/new self

Many years ago I was hospitalized because of a nervous breakdown. While in the hospital I had much idle time and it was a perfect opportunity for me to create. I made this sculpture out of clay while there, but it was never fired. Because of it she lost an arm, her feet and some of her skin.
What she is doing is removing her old self - the skin, the mask - pushing it away to reveal her true self. The parallels to my life became more transparent as time went on.

Her feet became detached - I too had lost my footing, my path.

Her right arm fell off (I positioned it in place for the photo) - that's the hand I use for painting and I didn't paint for years after I made her. And the skin, the veneer which she thought protected her all her life, well I'm still working on removing it.

I keep her around as a reminder of where I've been and what I'm reaching for. It also reminds me how fragile we are as human beings and how important it is to feel emotionally safe.

I'm identifying with her again more than ever. My elderly parents who live in an addition next door to us have been in and out of the hospital and I have no time to myself. I'm reaching a breaking point and I need to re-access my needs and boundaries. Painting time has been sacrificed for over 2 weeks and I can feel it. I'm working on scheduling daily time again so stay tuned, please.

We Have a Winner!

Hi everyone,
Many of you signed up for the free painting giveaway. I was very happy to see that you are all still visiting my blog. I hope you are enjoying the recent work.
My mother Johanna (that's her on the left) picked the winner again.
The winner of the "Three Pears" pastel painting is Monika Kaganiec of Poland. Congratulations Monika! Your painting will be in the mail this week.

I'm sorry to be late with the announcement. My father is in the hospital and we've been visiting him and helping my mom out at home.

If you haven't already subscribed to my blog you may want to. When ever I post you will receive an email update. Just enter your email address in the form on the right to subscribe.
I plan on having another free painting week before the end of summer.

chocolate bar painting

8" by 10" daily pastel painting, unframed

It's a comfort food week so I painted my my worst vice. I'm the person they are talking about when they say "stealing candy from a baby". My kids used to hide their chocolate from me because if it's there, I'll eat it.
These days I don't keep it in the house unless I need a fix ;-)

I know that I said that I was going to continue painting eggs until I created the perfect egg painting - in my eyes that is. But I got distracted by a chocolate bar and may work on chocolate a bit before I paint another egg.

SOLD

three yolks egg painting

10" by 8" daily pastel painting, unframed

I know you can paint eggs in more ways than you can cook them. So there will be more to come until I've exhausted the possibilities or just get sick of painting them.

$100 with free shipping and handling in the US. Please email me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

egg yolk

8" by 8" daily pastel painting, unframed

I'm running out of names for egg paintings. I'd be happy to take suggestions for better titles. I suppose I could have called it orange and blue. I thought I'd play with color in this one.

SOLD

hard boiled

9" by 7" daily pastel painting, unframed

Yes, another egg.
I want to paint the perfect egg so more will come until I am completely satisfied.
Hope you like it . . . this small painting would make a nice addition to a kitchen wall.

$70 (SALE PRICE) with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

cracked egg

7" by 7" daily pastel painting, unframed

I had so much positive feedback on my first cracked egg so I painted another.

SOLD