To Merrolyn
oil on panel
9” x 7”
2019
Sold

My friend and I were strolling through the University of Chicago’s Laird Bell Law Quadrangle when we spotted this feathered beauty. Soft and warm, it lay beside the reflecting pool, having just met its end in the accordioned glass facade of Saarinen’s D’Angelo Law Library. I wrapped it in a paper towel and took it home.

My grandmother, my mother’s mother, passed that year. She was elegant, witty, and alluringly reserved. I felt that just by looking at me she knew my secrets, and she’d never tell. While rearing kids she would steal away to the attic to sew exquisite garments into the wee hours—matching outfits for four youngsters, masterfully tailored suits and graduation dresses, my mother’s wedding gown. She was an artist.