Ending with a Smile
ENDING WITH A SMILE
Acrylic on Paper
8x11
Walgreen’s cashier ringing out my last minute Easter crisis eggs
I call this painting “Ending With a Smile” because it is indeed the last painting in the series. So I am ending it on a happy note as the cashier at Walgreen’s laughs at my commentary about buying Easter candy on Easter morning because the Easter Bunny is running late and/or expired at our home where my 18 year old daughter is sleeping, but to make me happy (because we all know by now that I AM THE EASTER BUNNY), my kiddo indulges me by saying she would like an Easter basket and egg hunt. So here I am. Nearing noon on Easter buying candy and cosmetics for my daughter.
Actually, I don’t altogether suck as Mommy Easter Bunny. Last night, I did go out and find the most comfy Howl’s Moving Castle and Totoro PJs for kiddo’s basket and a fantastic satin Haku jacket with an embroidered dragon on the back from Spirited Away. Those are very special and not to found at Walmart or Walgreen’s on Easter morning. It’s kinda perfect that I got kiddo Miyazaki goodies since he is the master of films about girls coming of age. These are Easter gifts from a mom TRYING to deal with her daughter coming of age (e.g. when Easter is more for the mom than for the kid).
This is the new era of my parenting. My daughter agrees to do things because they make me happy not because they make her happy, though she does enjoy them. For example, I told her I want to go up to the mountains with her this summer and rent a cabin. She said it sounds great, but she doesn’t want me to spend money on her. I said, “But I WANT to go with you. This is FOR ME. I work hard, and I want to do this for vacation for me.” When I phrase things that way, she agrees.
Back to the painting. I was too tired last night to do all the Easter stuff I wanted to do, so I was Trash Mom this morning, you know one of those moms who buys shit on Easter morning when the only options are Walmart and Walgreen’s. I went to both.
At Walmart, while I was ringing out my pathetic stash of stash, the guy across from me who was obviously hungover and unhappy was paying for a large pre-packaged cellophane wrapped military themed Easter basket featuring toy soldiers and guns. God bless Easter and America.
Speaking of which, Christ was making a major appearance at each store in which every end cap magazine is currently doing a feature on Jesus Christ - celebrity of the month.
I did take time at each store to ask if they were getting paid for working on Easter, all said no, including the Circle K clerk where I stopped to buy ice. “Strictly the federal holiday, huh?” I asked all of them. They all shrugged their shoulders and said, “I guess.” Jesus just stared at me from magazine covers.
I am not ignoring the metaphoric relevance that today is the first day in months that I actually feel threads of my old health. I was at the doctor last week, and he told me I would start feeling better in a month. He was wrong. My body was waiting for Easter to have a mini resurrection. I will rise from the dead!
Last night, all my dreams were in paint. That meant I was supposed to wake up and paint. So I did.
I painted this smile, which was kinda okay until I put it in the front yard to dry in the sun. A mini-hurricane burst out of nowhere and covered my painting with itty bitty leaves, twigs, dust, and tree fronds. I picked each one out of tweezers cussing the whole time. So it’s a pock-marked smile.
At least it’s a smile.
PS: My next step will be to compile this series into a book. The book will include paintings, text and an introduction where I talk about being a working mom painting everyday workers in everyday places and painting in the time I have to paint, which is the duration of one album. You know, demystifying artists, mothers, and workers all in one project. Putting the Real in Reality. Details forthcoming.