Cornonatime #1
Cherry blossoms bloom, sway and fall. As they coated the ground with pink, I took one of the last falling blossoms home to paint as a symbol of our covid isolation… separating it from the tree and from the ground’s pink blanket. The short lived beauty of that last cherry blossom alone on a cold glass surface was an expression of how I felt at the beginning of the pandemic.
Deuteronomy 30:15-19, describes the daily "blessings and curses” placed before us. We are urged to "choose life”, which for me, includes choosing to paint. As the world seems to be breaking into unrecognizable pieces, a bold, singular, and new form of life, represented by the orange and leafless tree, takes hold and emerges from the wreckage.
Racial tensions which surfaced after the brutal murder of George Floyd, led me to paint 2020. My eyes peer out through layers of African American features, Encased in different coatings, we are all one face of humanity.
"Masked" unfolded as I worked with no idea about what might emerge. The eye, the only recognizable body part, is sad and soulful, and the twisted shapes represent the way my insides feel, when I'm masked and unable to communicate
Acrylic on board and paper
This painting represents the dramatic changes in our world, which is seemingly spinning into a different orbit. But, the colors remain bright reflecting my gratitude for life's process, and how it's immense beauty is never diminished.
Acrylic on canvas
Acrylic on Canvas
24 x 48
Covid isolation was a great incentive for people to take walks outside as there was little else to do. Meeting neighbors I may never have seen otherwise, I was amazed at the diversity in my neighborhood which had been far more homogeneous in earlier years. Fascinated by the beauty of their differences, I decided to focus on painting portraits of 7 women who live within a block of my home. They represent various ethnicities, ages, and countries of origin … all beautiful and happy to participate in this project. Bringing them together through the painting was joyful and fulfilling.
I worked on this self portrait over the 6 months leading up to my seventieth birthday. According to Jewish texts, the age of 70 is known as the age of “satisfaction”.
Last February after a peaceful walk in the woods near my house, I found myself contemplating the similarity between the patterns which tiny branches create against the sky, and the patterns carved on my own face through time.
Tree patterns are seen repeatedly in our hearts and lungs and throughout our bodies. Given that we share 50% of our DNA with trees, it’s no wonder that we feel comforted by being in their presence and feel related to them. Trees have been here long before us, and will be here long after we pass through.
For these reasons I chose to veil my face with trees in this portrait, linking my new “age of satisfaction” with the peacefulness of the forest and the eternal beauty of nature for which I am so grateful.