SELF-DISCOVERY
The After Awareness Paintings

Although unaware of my true sexual orientation for most of my life, my artwork has often conveyed a sense of being different, of separation, and of longing for connection. This “differentness was evident even in my drawing from the First Day of First Grade when I drew birds escaping from a cage. I still have that early drawing.

In 2014, at seventy-four years old, I finally became aware of being a lesbian and publicly acknowledged my true sexual orientation. Since then, my artwork has explored “coming out,” celebrated diversity, and affirmed how we are all more alike than we are different.

This positive change of focus and mood is very evident in the series of Awareness Paintings from 2014 and the In Celebration group of paintings from 2015.