Fire and Ice

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A lot has been going on in my life that I have not talked about. My own health problems that are causing mass havoc. My daughter's health - or lack thereof. The estate and family issues which have shaken up our entire family into needing therapy.

Yesterday it was my birthday, and I was very depressed. I assured those close to me that 75% of it was hormonal, and my withdrawing from the world was merely self-preservation.

I had today off, and I spent time sorting out and dealing with some of the issues, went to lunch with the girls and subsequently got sick while out. The rest of my plans got nixed because of it, so I spent the rest of the day in my studio at home, working on some cards and the under painting, shown here, for the Donskoj show "Fire and Ice".

The story of this painting is apropo for today as my 25 year old daughter is a veteran of this Iraq war, and two years after coming home, she was diagnosed with a very rare and deadly form of cancer. The fall/winter my daughter was getting chemo, I would go to her house after work every week to bring home made soup, visit, and give my granddaughter a kiss.

The house she lived in overlooked the Hudson River, on a big farm whose buildings were made into apartments. Joe Lewis used to practice boxing there.....it was a lovely place, even though the apartments were funky and old. I would often stop along the river, and noted how it changed from November through the spring. I would sometimes cry...as the icy beauty of the river and the pain of watching a loved one suffer was too much to bear.

The underpainting is done in acrylics, but I think the next layer will be oils.
It was an intersting journey back to a painful time, and I will always remember it by the ever changing river, the ice, and the blues.

Off to look up information about full spectrum light lamps....

Patti O Ice

Comments

Tangled Stitch said…
Blessings to you and your daughter. I know what you mean about not sharing stories on our blogs, but I think I like you have decided that if people are going to see our work and make it their own they have to see bits and pieces of our lives along with it. Some of it is lousy and some of it is wonderful but in the end it is real and authentic and universal. Blessings again. And I almost forgot the piece is beautiful, even more so because I know the story behind it!
4:07 PM
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