My latest work

A while back, I saw something in a genealogy magazine that got my creative juices running rampant. It was a simple frame with the pictures around the edge and the family name framed inside. I loved the idea. My collection of old photos has grown so the first one I did was family oriented with photos of different time periods. I shaded the photo edges with sepia inks, then painted the frame out with black paint. I settled on a quote in the center and printed on fabric. I have since designed 8 different collages. Here are three.





The "Sisters" frame has been the most popular and I just did the military one yesterday.
Joe suggested I offer custom frames with designed with personal photos. I am thinking about that.

I hope you like them!

I miss my sister

Today would have been my sister Theresa's 56th birthday. She died last year after a 5 year fight with ALS. It's still so hard to believe she's gone. That's her, holding me when I first came home.

When I was growing up, my sister was EVERYTHING to me. She was smarter than I was (no really, she was) and knew all these great people. I learned so much watching her, being with her. How to sing O Come all Ye Faithful in Latin. How to laugh at everything. It was Theresa who taught me what it meant to be a woman, she who listened when I cried about boys, taught me how to cook for a crowd, how to be a hostess, gave me advice (solicited and unsolicited) about anything I needed to know. She is the one who woke me when my father died and we cried together. I basked in her love.

And then, I screwed up. I left Portland in 2004 and while I won't take the time now to explore all the reasons (some of which I am not even sure about), I made her very angry at me. She turned her back on me and dropped me from her life. I think she knew nothing could have been more painful to me. Shortly after I left, she was diagnosed with ALS. I went back to Portland when I got married and had a reception. She went around the party telling my friends she was sick, but never told me directly. I left Portland hurt and angry and confused. I tried over the next couple of years to throw out little lines to her but I had NO IDEA what to say or do to work on the rift.

So finally, in 2008, I told my husband I had to see her. I had to talk to her even though she needed a machine to help her talk. We scrapped together the money and made reservations. Three days later, I got the call she had died. Too late, too late. I even missed a last good bye because she was cremated before I could get to town. The pain was so physical, several times I wept as if I would break. It hurts almost the same today. I think others tried to comfort me when they said, "don't worry. She never said anything bad about you. She never talked about you." They missed the point but I didn't. A nun came up to me after the service and we talked a bit about it. She asked me how I knew Theresa. I replied I was her sister. She looked a bit puzzled and said, "oh I didn't even know she had a sister." Other people felt they had to share how great it was to be able to spend time with her before she died. How glad they were to be a part of her grace. I know that grace was beautiful to behold. I was too late, too late.



I have tried to learn from all the pain of the last few years. Sometimes, I feel I know the meaning, other times I still want to cry. Preferably in her arms. If you are willing to listen to me now, then please, run to that person you have lost for whatever reason and say I love you. Moments really can't be had again.

I miss my sister.

Happy New Year

I saw the Blue Moon on New Year's Eve and knew it was a good sign. Of what, I do not know but I will wait and see.

Don't you just want to howl when you see such a perfect Moon?