Grandchildren

“There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change…Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding. You don’t ever let go of the thread.” –William Stafford

Our families now live in different cities, limiting the time I have to draw or paint my grandchildren. Valuing our time together, filled with intergenerational sparking and the continual unfolding of cycles of growth and change, I strive to capture their presence while I am still able. But I must balance the push of artistic desire against the pull of caretaking within the equation of my own waning energies. I found a way to share playful energy and collaborate with my grandchildren by working side-by-side on my canvasses, often freely incorporating their drawings, writings and paintings into mine.

Powerful currents held and separated our family. Yet we circled, we grew, we rebuilt, we held on and we let go –maintaining a sense of belonging to each other and to the human family. Somehow, I never let go of the thread, neither as an artist nor as a mother or grandmother.

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