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On March 17th, 2005, my landlord decided to have the roof fixed. By noon a tar fire had seen to it that there wasn't a roof anymore and my ground floor apartment was flooded with dirty, smoky water. Happy St Patrick's day.
Most of my dolls survived intact and dry, except for three. One, Snow Hawk, was washed and scrubbed and washed again and was resurrected. Danny however had been knocked over, stepped on and covered with disintegrated ceiling tile. Mothers Arms also ended up on the floor, wet and soot stained. I dried them in a friends garage and was oblivious to their plight while I dealt with my own.
Then as I got over the shock I remembered all the effort and imagery and passion that had gone into making them. "In Mothers Arms" was about night feedings and my daughters. "Danny serving Latkes" was about a great teacher who had helped me deal with fear and to get back on a horse after being thrown. So I cleaned and scrubbed them and looked at them for a while - survivors - came to mind, tsunami, disasters of all kinds.
It was a challenge to work with the original set poses. The stains, with experimental use of paints, became bruises. They got "new" clothes to reflect their new status. So now they are together, the survivors, caring for each other, maybe a family, maybe not. As I was putting the finishing touches on, Hurricane Katrina came through and suggested a few additional little touches.
The survivors - different clothes but still the same, a mother feeding her daughter, a strong caring man protecting and helping, battered but proud, still doing what is right.
"Danny" A tribute to Danny who got me back onto a horse - after 6 weeks of trying
"In the Mothers Arms" was inspired by the births of my daughters and reconecting with the daughter I had had to give up for adoption