She Answered the Phone

She Answered the Phone
oil on canvas
18" x 24"

This painting was inspired by my story, which held true in Joan Didion's story the Blue Nights.  About an important phone call.  Joan's daughter always talked about what would happen if she didn't answer the call.  My mother used to tell me my story...how she was cutting onions, and had to wash her hands, and almost...didn't make it to the phone.  But, she did, and that's how I became her baby girl.  And I loved to hear her tell me it.

Of course, there are always two sides to every story, and my empathy for my birth mother is still seared in my heart.