By Rita
You might not know this but Wine
Art Wednesdays was started by 2 sets of mothers and daughters: Joan & Alex
and Audrey & Jennifer and later garnered two more sets; Gina & me and
Donna & Jesse. And the funny thing about this is that of the eight of us,
none have the same last name. Either through marriage, re-marriage, or divorce,
none of our last names are the same! (Fun
fact.) In other words, Life …..
its shifts, dips, rises, and eddies, affects us all. We change, we re-invent,
we adjust, and we move forward. WAW began sort of as a phoenix that needed to
rise from some ashes.
Over the past two WAW’s, one at
Donna’s home and the next at mine, we talked of our usual concerns such as … where
is the best flea market to buy (no kidding) bugs. Note: please see our new line of “bug
paintings”. Or, what is the best way to
launder an expensive, intricate tutu. Oh, I won’t make you wait for the answer
… in a Jacuzzi of course! Donna is a costumer extraordinaire and is full of
erudite knowledge about costumes. Or the perils of being an aging butterfly. Or
whose corn chowder tasted better.
But there is a theme that runs
through many of our multi-color conversations and that is how special mother
daughter relationships are. We are all
daughters, some of us are mothers, some of us have daughters, and some of us
have the amazing fortune to become so close to the younger women in the group that
they have become our surrogate daughters.
Within the WAW group we have begun a special bonding process between one
generation and the next. Of course, many in the group go way back and that
process began when our younger artists were infants. But there are many new, cross-generational
friendships and close relationships growing in the fertile soil of WAW. We share our stories (sometimes uproarious
stories) of child-rearing and they share their stories of apartment hunting or
dating disasters and sometimes finally let us know about something that went on
at college that they now feel it’s ok to tell us. It’s really never ok. You guys wouldn’t want
to hear our frightful college stories. But I digress.
During our dinners and our
famously fun painting sessions, there is an amazing magic happening. We are developing a caring for one another,
we’re learning each other’s stories, and we’re supporting and mothering any one
of us who needs a little bit of mothering.
We are becoming closer to our own daughters and quasi-adopting other
daughters who grace the WAW tables. It’s a safe place for us to discuss
ANYTHING and there is always positivism and a sense that our creativity
transcends and heals anything that Life may place in our path. As I looked around the WAW table this past
week, each of us has had a pile of ash to rise up from. Life has a way of
dumping a pile of that grey stuff on all of us. These small canvases we paint …. whether they
are sumptuous, whimsical, primitive, or pure design …. they are the colorful feathers of our Phoenixes. We are giving each
other the safe place we need and the open hearts we all crave. The kindness of
friendship, the laughter, the understanding, the sharing, and the love we give
each other are the wind, the air, and the color we all use to create our
plumage …….
….. and our Phoenix
rises.
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