Sunflowers for Ukraine
Months ago which feels more like years following months of dreaded anticipation, Russia invaded Ukraine. February 24, 2022. Images of bombings, families huddled in basement refuges, people running in the streets, burned out and shattered homes have been constant reminders of the human toll that has been taken. I recall rather vividly how shortly after it all stated, we learned the meaning behind the Ukrainian flag….fields of sunflowers against a clear blue sky, Such contrast to what we saw through the past nine months. My watercolor friends and I peppered our Facebook pages with images of sunflowers. I resolved to plant sunflowers in my garden and to paint more of them…, mostly so my heart would remember the strong images of the women of
Ukraine guiding their children to lands far away, courageous and strong, met by women on the safe side of the border offering food and lodging and strollers for the children. Horrendous evil counterbalanced by hearts torn open with kindness and caring. I painted images I felt more than saw just to keep my heart tuned into what was happening.
My sunflowers grew. I drew them and I painted them. One particular painting turned into a prayer. It started out well but somewhere along the line I determined it needed to take a different direction. I decided to cut it up and stitch it and turn it into a quilt-like image. That failed too. So I continued to cut, to tear, to stitch pieces back together and to sit and stare at the remnants to determine how I could make something from the shattered pieces. The metaphor became clear. Ukraine as it had been is gone, broken and shattered. Lives are lost, Families are displaced. Futures are uncertain. My prayer becomes one of hope that they might find the shards of their lives and put them back together.
And so my Ukrainian Prayer Book came to be, just a small 4″ square with only a few pages , the product of hours of thought, doing, undoing and redoing.
grandmothers of Ukraine and the beautiful Polish women who welcomed them into their homes; bluebirds and nuthatches in their springtime nests around our home, the novel I was reading about the women of the Great Plains, young women giving birth, family stories…..all spoke of motherhood to me. Everywhere I turned I seemed to be met by mothers and their strength and beauty.
when I decided to try “something different” for the new year and did a small piece I called It’s a New Day which now lives in Springfield, Missouri. I have lost track of how many I have done since ,but they are fun, challenging, and surprising. The technique involves painting two paintings about the same size and similar or complementary subject matter, then cutting the two in opposite directions and weaving them together. The result is hard to envision in advance and some end up in the recycle bin! This one didn’t! 
On a weekend following a number of days doing relatively non-creative tasks, my insides demanded some play time. A very energizing exercise for me is to do one of my woven paintings. To do this, I generally paint two paintings, often on yupo, that have some similar elements in color and/or line. Yupo is a synthetic material that has a very hard non-absorbent surface that does not act at all like traditional watercolor paper. It is hard to control but results in very vibrant lively color that I love to work with. After painting and letting them dry well, I slice the two paintings in opposite directions and then weave them back together. The fun part is that I never quite know what the finished piece will look like. Ok, it’s not always fun but it sure can be interesting…..This is one of those surprises. It could remind the viewer of a spectacular sunrise or sunset, thus the title “Solar Flare.” The image itself is 10×14 and it is matted and framed to 16×19. You can see more woven watercolors 
“Morning Moments: the Story behind the exhibit”
