After becoming a mother, my art began to change as my role in the world became radically different. What influenced me changed and so did my art making process as the responsibilities of a life caring for a household, a child and a husband took hold. The disparity between the lifestyle and mind set of being a college educated, career women and the skill set and attitude needed to successfully render the tasks of homemaking created a tension that affected my art.

The selections shown do not encompass the entire collection.

OH FATHER
acquired thread, needle point canvas and fabric / 19" x 14"
A nod to the patriarchal world and the tension between wanting to fulfill personal aspirations and still be a mother. I stitched this and Cents On The Dollar only during the minutes I sat waiting in my car for afternoon dismissal at my child's school. Materials were achieved through bartering.

CENTS ON THE DOLLAR
acquired thread, needle point canvas and fabric / 15" x 10"
A recent newspaper article reported that college educated women are backsliding in terms of how much they are paid in comparison to a comparably educated and experienced man.

MY DAUGHTER IS AN ARTIST
acquired wool strips and monks cloth / 33"x14"
While my artistic output waned, my daughter drew prolifically and created daily. She became the primary art producer in our house. The subject of this rug are images she drew that I then transferred to monks cloth and hooked in traditional, primitive style. Whose art does the viewer see when looking at this piece; her's or mine?

WHERE MOMMY KEEPS HER SECRETS
acquired mixed media
A triptych of three cookbooks whose insides reveal hiding spaces. One space holds love letters, one holds a vibrator and the last holds a burned bra.

EAT ME: the dinner plate series - #3197
acrylic paint on paper / 15" x 22" , one in a series
I calculated that I have created over 3000 dinner time meals in my ten plus years as a wife and mother. I consider each meal I make to be a small creative triumph, yet my meals don't prompt consideration when attributing notice to my creative output as an artist. When I place a plate of food that I have prepared on the table, it is not seen as an artist accomplishment. I wondered if, as a painting of that same meal, would people then see it as art.

STORE BOUGHT
photograph / 5"x7"
I once caught myself wondering how the other mothers would perceive me if I brought a store bought cake for the school carnival cake walk instead of making one myself.