Wax Bloom

My mom recently delivered to me a large stack of drawings that I had done as a child. They had all belonged to my Aunt Mary Lou, who had held onto every silly childish scribble I had put on paper for the past 34 years.  This one, by all accounts, is the first portrait I’d ever done, roughly 1978 or so:

To Ant Lou | Watercolor on Paper | 10 x 12″ 

My aunt was a very important person in my life. Many of my most cherished memories of my childhood involve her. From taking me to the Natural History museum in D.C. to see the dinosaurs for what seems like every weekend to me, to getting me interested in computers and technology, she was a huge influence on me.  She even tolerated me as a roommate for my first semester of art school until I moved into an apartment with some friends.

 This painting has hung on the same spot on her kitchen wall for the past 30 years. It comes into my possession now because my Aunt passed away in April. This and many of the other things that have been turned up in her home by my parents are a warm reminder of how much she thought of me as well.