I love this piece/section. I was particularly taken with this sentence from the Coda: "I’m left with the disturbing question: did my father overvalue his work or did he undervalue his children?"
I hope you'll find the courage to get in touch with the couples therapist. I sense it might be telling to see what image your father bartered with him/her.
How about his dentist(s)? A number of artists I've known have bartered with art for the care of their teeth.
Oh, gosh, Victoria, this has so much resonance now as I think back to my friends whose parents are artists. Indeed, when you fall in love with a painting it's very hard to extricate it from your life. I can appreciate both your need to see these birth paintings and the ways in which they've become part of the lives of Dr. B's family. Paintings do take on a life of their own, don't they.
As we say in the product business... the first step to solving a problem is knowing what problem it is you're trying to solve. When you focused on finding it... it didn't turn out to be that hard, eh?
Trying to remember whether I’ve ever exchanged one of my paintings for something. Tbh, I don’t think I ever have. Over the years, I’ve given some away as presents, or occasionally to charity art auctions, but, for some reason, never as an exchange of services. Love how your father did this though! It gives each artwork a unique story.
I love how you tie art and birth together, weave in mythology and fairytale and make a statement about women and their value all in a piece that I want to keep reading. There is a mystery here, something I also want to solve, through your solving of your feelings around value, of children, of art, of services and of particularly what your father valued. Thank you for sharing. I want to hear more of this story! 🙏❤️
You're welcome! and thank you for the kind words about the craft because that's what I was aiming for. I have at least two more stories to tell in this ongoing journey, so stay tuned. :)
"This new story makes clear that art and family were never on separate parallel tracks; they were always intertwined, where you least expected it." A lovely insight from this fascinating story. My own father, a farmer, wasn't above doing a bit of bartering here and there. But not for medical services—we had the NHS for that.
I love this piece/section. I was particularly taken with this sentence from the Coda: "I’m left with the disturbing question: did my father overvalue his work or did he undervalue his children?"
I hope you'll find the courage to get in touch with the couples therapist. I sense it might be telling to see what image your father bartered with him/her.
How about his dentist(s)? A number of artists I've known have bartered with art for the care of their teeth.
I want to laugh about the dentist but it’s probably true.
Thank you for the kind words!
Here's place to start! https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/nyregion/teeth-art-and-iguanas.html
Oh, gosh, Victoria, this has so much resonance now as I think back to my friends whose parents are artists. Indeed, when you fall in love with a painting it's very hard to extricate it from your life. I can appreciate both your need to see these birth paintings and the ways in which they've become part of the lives of Dr. B's family. Paintings do take on a life of their own, don't they.
Yes, it felt like a lot to untangle! But I was amazed that I found these at all.
As we say in the product business... the first step to solving a problem is knowing what problem it is you're trying to solve. When you focused on finding it... it didn't turn out to be that hard, eh?
Trying to remember whether I’ve ever exchanged one of my paintings for something. Tbh, I don’t think I ever have. Over the years, I’ve given some away as presents, or occasionally to charity art auctions, but, for some reason, never as an exchange of services. Love how your father did this though! It gives each artwork a unique story.
Interesting -- I get both responses to this story. Either "of course! lots of artists barter their work" or "really??!" :)
That's the annoying thing about artists - they're always so rebellious/unpredictable! 😁
I love how you tie art and birth together, weave in mythology and fairytale and make a statement about women and their value all in a piece that I want to keep reading. There is a mystery here, something I also want to solve, through your solving of your feelings around value, of children, of art, of services and of particularly what your father valued. Thank you for sharing. I want to hear more of this story! 🙏❤️
You're welcome! and thank you for the kind words about the craft because that's what I was aiming for. I have at least two more stories to tell in this ongoing journey, so stay tuned. :)
"This new story makes clear that art and family were never on separate parallel tracks; they were always intertwined, where you least expected it." A lovely insight from this fascinating story. My own father, a farmer, wasn't above doing a bit of bartering here and there. But not for medical services—we had the NHS for that.