2:25 PM: today is mikela’s birthday. when i wished her a happy birthday, she reminded me of the story about why she doesn’t like to observe her birthday, or more accurately, why birthdays have no meaning for her.
her grandmother’s yiddish name was feygele., which means “little bird.” this is pronounced “FAY-gela” she was born in russia, where, at the time birthdays weren’t a thing, and few jews actually knew the exact date of their birth. so, carrying on the tradition, mikela prefers not to make her birthday a big deal. or any deal. mikela was crazy about her grandmother, who was a political activist and, amongst other things, invented the first time share, as a way for people, especially women, who couldn’t afford a vacation home to have all the benefits of one without the prohibitive cost.
so anyway, i had these 4 equal sized 16x20” canvases stretched & primed & sitting around waiting their turn. i decided to put them together & make one large painting, riffing on some of the discoveries i made in the durango painting a few days ago. it’s titled feygele.
it definitely need more work, but not a lot. but it’s gotten very dark this afternoon, and there’s not really enough natural light to paint. so i think i’ll take it slow & wait till the morning to work some more on it. let feygele be till the morning.
i was reviewing my story page this morning. it’s not bad if you’re interested in how i got to this point in my life & career: https://www.philiptarlow.com/chatty-bio