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The Show is Up!

Life has been pretty crazy since oh, about last December.  You see, not only am I a professional artist, I am also president of a non-profit organization, NUNU Arts and Culture Collective,  that is partnering with an arts and culture organization in Redon, France, Les Articulteurs.  This has meant a lot of time working on our mutual projects and two trips to France since January.  Meanwhile, I have also been painting for an exhibit, “Louisiana Landscapes,” which includes artists George Marks, Lisa diStefano and myself.  The show just went up at Gallery at the Manship Theater in the Shaw Center in downtown Baton Rouge.  I feel incredibly lucky to have these amazing opportunities and to work with such wonderful and talented people on both sides of the Atlantic.

Here are images of the four paintings I completed for the exhibit. The reception is December 13th at 6:00 pm.  I will be there, everyone is invited!  Please come by if you can.

Echo XXIX, 72″ x 72″

Echo XXX, 72″ x 92″

Echo XXI, 108″ x 11.5″

Echo XXXII, 36″ x 96″

Goodbye to My Hero

My father’s last words to me were, “I don’t like this, Jill.”  He struggled so hard just to say that.  I held his hand and told him I couldn’t even imagine.  His last words to my children were, “I love you.”

Back in March I had plans to fly to West Virginia (via Pittsburgh) a week later to see my dad, knowing he did not have much time left.  But it seemed really urgent to get there so my family packed up the car, pulled the kids out of school and drove to Wheeling, pleading on the phone for my dad to “hold on, we were coming.”  He did hold on and we did get to see him one last time.  Hug him one last time.  He passed away about 36 hours after we left to go back home.  That ticket I purchased to visit my dad was used to fly up for his funeral.  It was so hard to say goodbye to my hero.

Thank you for believing in me dad, believing in my talent.  Thank you for not holding me back when I wanted to go to a high school exclusively for art.  Thank you for supporting my education to pursue a degree in fine arts.  Thank you for being the dreamer that you were and showing me that the American Dream is attainable.  For being the man who went from brick layer and steel worker in the Ohio Valley, to a high powered attorney who worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Ohio and Hibernia National Bank in New Orleans, LA.  Thank you for showing me that when you dream big, anything is possible.  You gave us some pretty big shoes to fill dad, fortunately your only expectation of us was to create our own “shoes,” to carve our own paths of success.

I love you dad.