Still Life with White Lace - New Beginnings

Since my beloved uncle passed in November, I have been unable to get into my studio for anything other than teaching. First grief and then the time consuming chores of closing out his apartment and assisting the executor in aspects of his estate have kept me in a state that swung from sadness to confusion to numbness. Then came the holidays. I don't need to explain what that was like.

When I first got the phone call from his guardian that said he was in the hospital, I was in my studio engrossed in a painting that I had envisioned for a long time. I put my paints away, cleaned my brushes and immediately left for Seattle. I was with him for three days in the hospital before he passed. And since that telephone call until two weeks ago, I was just unable to get back to the painting.

When I finally did, I was sure that I had gone cold on it and would not be able to finish. But I persevered and I'm glad I did. As the work progressed, I found myself pulled back into the canvas and in a dialogue with the painting that pushed and pulled me in a new direction. I insisted on painting it one way and it insisted I try another approach. We compromised and the final result is a kind of detente.

I hope you like it.

"White Lace"
Oil on Canvas
40" x 30"