Happy Birthday, Cecilia!

Four years ago today my son Eben phoned from Virginia at 5:00 am to tell us that little Cecilia Rose had arrived. My husband Garry and I have two grandsons, our son Andy's two boys, and this was our first grandaughter. I was in my sophomore year at MECA and had an all day class to attend that started at 9:00 am, Mixed Media Drawing. I grabbed these two pieces of wood off my dresser along with my supplies and drove to Portland. I found these wonderful pieces of driftwood on the beach years ago and always thought that they looked like the torsos of a young woman and an old woman, in profile. (They are both burnt on one side - I love how they look from that angle, too). When I got to class, I set the driftwood up in a still life to paint, along with a few old photos of me as a young mother, and some images of flowers and butterflies. I was very emotional while working on this piece, wishing I could be in Virginia with my son and his wife, and longing to see and hold Cecilia. While doing this painting I was also remembering the birth of my own first daughter, and mourning the passing of my youth and those days of being a young mother. It is a bittersweet experience, being a grandmother. I now have four grandchildren, and happily, they all live close to me here in Maine! The last photo posted here is of me and Cecilia one night last fall when she slept over.

I intend to give this painting to Ceci one day when she is grown.

First Grandaughter, 2004

colored inks on paper, 22" x 30". Not For Sale.