loving art, science and creative kids

THE SANTIAM BURN

                                       THE DEVISTATION LEFT BY A VAST FIRE IN OREGON INSPIRED THIS PAINTING AND THE BOOK I'M PRESENTLY                                 WRITING ABOUT OUR NATIONAL PARKS AND FORESTS

While giving book talks or attending art show openings of my paintings, I am often asked what inspired me. The only honest answer to that question is life itself—both living it and observing it. There are times, whether in moments of crisis or joy, when I mentally step outside the experience and watch it as though I were a stranger witnessing the situation unfold. At other times, when frustration or sorrow weighs heavily on me, a blank sheet of paper or an empty canvas calls out as a place to pour out the soul’s unrest.

The day my son was diagnosed with cancer, I went to my studio and splashed my grief across a canvas, yet somehow created a painting filled with hope, healing, and resilience. When the temperature climbed to 117 degrees and wildfires blackened the landscape, I did the same, finding solace while painting the scorched trees and smoke-filled skies that occupied my thoughts.

During the long walks I took throughout COVID-19, I became fascinated by the front doors of the houses I passed. I found myself imagining the people who lived behind them and the lives they carried within those walls. Those observations stirred my imagination and eventually became the inspiration for a blog in 2021. The walks kept my mind percolating until my fingers later moved rapidly across the keyboard. Immersed in writing, I enjoyed every moment of free time the lockdown gave me.

I was fortunate to travel extensively in my younger years, and the journeys that affected me most were those with a purpose beyond sightseeing. In Poland, I participated in an archaeological dig. In Kenya, I joined a research project studying elephant behavior in the wild. I experienced homestays in the Andes Mountains, in a Cuban plantation town, and in a village deep within the Amazon rainforest. I traveled extensively in China when towns were being demolished and million person cities were established almost overnight. Experiences like these deepened my curiosity about the customs people practice, the values they cherish, and the ways culture shapes identity.

As a mental health professional, and later while managing museums and businesses, I learned to look beyond the surface of the people I encountered. Their motives, backgrounds, fears, and dreams were endlessly varied and deeply compelling. If I were given another fifty years to live, it still would not be enough time to share all I have learned about the human struggle to find meaning in life.

The Water Factor is infused with experiences drawn from Africa and from the African families I have met in the United States. Cave explorations in Costa Rico, archaeological digs in the Southwest, and rock-climbing adventures near home all found their way into Antheia in the Thorns.

So, it is life that inspires and enriches the Rightfully Mine Series and the paintings I share in each blog.  It is the practice of remaining aware of one’s surroundings and attentive to others while moving through the world. And finally, it is the willingness to look inward—to examine my own soul and understand how I respond to the situations life places before me.

Other Inspirations:

The dark days and riots following George Floyd's death inspired this painting of hope.

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Helping a homeless boy climb a fence that took him from poverty to a living wage 

inspired the painting (OVER THE FENCE) and teh book (OVER THE PEANUT FENCE)

Paying attention to the environment, learning about global warming, and watching the quality of ouor ocians and air degrade inspired the painting (One Seed at A Time) and the The Rightfully Mine Series of Books. 

What inspired you to create something you value. Please share in the comment secdtion below.

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 Recently published, Antheia in the Thorns is an environmental thriller about power, corruption, loss, and regaining purpose. Marilynne Eichinger follows Jennifer Russo, a grieving mother who lost a child, and Abdul Hammed Dillinger, who escaped his father's cruelty. Together their stories illuminate the effect trauma has on behavior and how individuals evolve over time. Human lives are complex, influenced by environment and happenstance. The second thriller in the Rightfully Mine series remains at a reduced price while we get the word out. Your early reviews are greatly appreciated. Purchase at  AMAZON SERIES.