Work in Progress, This going to be big. So far the dimensions will be 22x 42” using mostly oil based Polychromos with a touch of wax based Luminance pencils on rag 4 ply mat. The reference material was taken by me at The Cincinnati Nature Center last November while walking with my dogs.
My mom, who had been in Hospice for 2 1/2 years was declining. Kidney disease, heart failure, macular degeneration, hearing loss and crippling arthritis were very, very slowly, taking their toll. I will never know why Mom’s will to live was so strong. Her sisters and friends had all passed. Ninety-nine years of age! Maybe she was hoping to make 100. She was a very competitive woman! But this time, days before my family would gather for Thanksgiving, and while I was taking a walk in the the woods, my beautiful mother slipped into a deep sleep from which she would never wake.
A doe appeared. Perhaps she was there all the time. I looked at her for a second or two before my sight communicated to my brain that she was there. After taking numerous photos at every angle, this generous animal standing patiently, I realized there was another behind her. Who knows how many more were nearby, but invisible. It was pure magic! A gift my mother gave me as she passed from this existence to the next.
This piece is big. There is much left to do. It will take hours and hours and hours to complete. A few things learned through these 2 1/2 years with my Mom: patience, enjoy the simplest thing and the journey is as important as the destination.