Old Soles & A Fish developed out of my quest for what to paint. & A Fish was the beginning of this series of paintings and ended up being the end. In 2018, I was inspired to paint the fish after seeing a friend’s photo of an offering he spied on 4th Street in Berkeley. I loved the design, the color, the values, the textures and especially the idea of a shamanic offering being placed on the street corner. Each item must mean something. Not knowing what the creator of the offering intended, it’s a mystery.

I lost my husband, who I’d known for 57 years and been married to since 1968 in May of 2019. Offerings seemed like a good theme for a series of paintings to help me process my grief. But then I couldn’t find resources that sparked my juices like the fish photo. While at Burning Man in August of 2019, I visited the Temple many times and took many photos of the items people had placed in remembrance of lost loved ones. It’s an extremely emotional place to be. So many hearts all gathered together in grief. And, there were lots of boots. Lots of old worn out boots. Tired Old Boots was now the start of my new series, and & A Fish became the end. Old Soles & A Fish paintings are a metaphor’s metaphor.