2021

My mother is 88 and I painted this portrait from a black and white photo of her when she was in her teens. I found myself thinking of her a lot during the worst of Covid and how much the world has changed during her lifetime. She was raised on a farm in Nebraska as the eldest of 4 girls and embodied the Mid Western Work Ethic in everything she did. "Work" played such an important role in her life, it was difficult for her to show her creativity. But it was there, in her cake decorating, sewing, and creating scenes inside of sugar eggs at Easter. This portrait is a nod to the simpler times, but also to the creativity within her. Highly textured, it represents a life well lived.