Oil on board, 9 x 12

Pitcher thistle in oil and as photo.

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Happy faces from all windows of a skyscraper merging with the blue sky as painted by a little girl visiting her grandparents in Manhattan in the 1970s.

The grandparents, living in an apartment complex of the garment district, introduced Nina to the culture of this big city.

The Jewish grandparents led a complicated life, balancing jobs with their struggle for social justice in this country, and to their granddaughter, they offered the unsullied joys of Manhattan.

Disasters happen, skyscrapers may topple. This painting celebrates the possibility of joy and innocence.

David’s Self-Portrait with Raven reminded me of this picture of a black bird that I carried in my mind:

I thought that it was a painting by Georgia O’Keefe but I could not find it in my art books. What I found instead were these two paintings by Georgia O’Keefe:

A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills + It was Blue and Green.

Have you ever unknowingly invented a picture in your mind that is based on other people’s artwork? In my mid, the artwork of others appears a life of its own.

Does your mind also usurp artwork of others and then plays with it? If yes, does it diminish as you focus more on your own art?

What do you see in this painting?