2020, thread, Grandma’s fabric, papers, graphite, holes, 27 ½ x 17 ½ inches. NFS.

During the first COVID summer of 2020, I spent most of my time cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and driving my children to their fun outdoor activities.  For me, the best moments were my stolen hours when I could sit in the flowers, be they weeds or gardens, and draw.  

In this artwork, I have incorporated my drawings into a piece of fabric that belonged to my grandmother and must be from the 50’s or 60’s.  I have owned it since the mid 90’s and have never known how to appreciate it properly.  (Destroying something and bringing it back  to a new life reborn is always my  purest appreciation.) In my mind, this artwork epitomizes the peace and intrigue that I felt being at my grandparent’s house.  They always had beautiful or interesting things to look at that were from a different  time. Their belongings were full of history, memories all linked to me and in my blood, but unknown to me.  What could I understand by learning the stories behind each pond, artwork, photograph, book, fence and cow? To own them is to remember them and incorporate them into my psyche and, by extension, into my artworks.  To me, this artwork is a  perfect melding of these two things.  I have incorporated a lot of family scraps into my art, but somehow this one is exactly how I feel when I think of my  coveted time at my grandparent’s house.  It is the outdoor peace and glory with the protection of home and the knowledge of who I am.