Turning it Over: Bubby & the Seasons
I am a New Englander by birth. In the early 1980s I moved to California to explore & develop identities, one of which was that of an artist.
During my journey, in an attempt to resolve what I called my 'Bicoastal dilemma,' I created a 3 color, 5 canvas acrylic painting as a way to work through feelings about moving from New England to California--- leaving behind family & the beauty of the changing seasons.
The painting became a template for this patchwork quilt which honors my relationship with my grandmother and acknowledges the seasons.
Fabric, unlike the acrylic paint on canvas, offered a richnessof texture, and an opportunity for metaphor. My favorite is that the fabric used for our faces is 'cut from the same cloth'--- two different sides of the same fabric.
For many years this quilt was a fixture on the wall in Bubby’s nursing home room. It hung beside the family photos of young brides and multiple grandchildren. Since my grandmother’s passing in 1989, the quilt and I have lived together in many places on both coasts.
We now happily spend the bulk of our time in my El Cerrito home studio.
