“Emergence” 14" x 18" (Prints Available)

"Emergence" was twenty years in the making. I began it while an in-patient at St. Joseph's Rehab in 1999 immediately following the onset of the transverse myelitis which left me a paraplegic. I only had the use of two fingers and a thumb, my hand was trembling and I barely had the ability to grip the brush or hold my arm up. I couldn't get the paint to blend right and I don't even know why it was dripping, and...I became discouraged. No matter how much I was determined that things would stay the same, that it was just a matter of time before medicine worked and everything healed and I would be on my merry way...the days and weeks and months went by with little improvement. The paint dried out and when I was sent home after 51/2 months, the painting went into my closet - for twenty years. Last spring, in the midst of the stay-at-home time in 2020, I dug it out and decided I was going to find a way to fix it and complete it. I dusted it off and got to work. It was completed in May, 2020.

I grew up in upstate New York and this reminds me of a beautiful garden path with the dappled sunlight that I had visited. From the viewer's perspective it may seem like you are entering the path, but for me - I am "emerging" from the shaded cool darkness of the woods and walking into the warm sunlight. The original painting as well as my others are available for sale.