Back Story: Grow Old Along with Me and Exhibit 2021 Title Announced

When my children were small and my husband and I were in the throes of early parenthood, some days I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  I even longed for the good old days of uninterrupted sleep, only 3 batches of laundry per week, and a flat tummy.

One night, we got a babysitter to stay extra late and we went to a concert.  I remember feeling guilty that we would be out so late. Nervous that the kids would need us. Unsettled and tired.  But it was our anniversary and this concert was our celebration.

It was a Peter Breinholt concert (a local singer songwriter) and Nancy Hansen was his opening act.  The thing I remember the most about that night, however, was the song they sang together: Grow Old Along with Me.

I had been thinking that the best years were behind us.  That our romance and love that was being crowded out by our kids, would never be the same.  This song gave me hope.  It helped me look forward and look at the present in a new light. Our romance would indeed never be the same. The best was yet to be.

Since painting "Grow Old Along With Me" for my 2020 "Monsters" Virtual Art Exhibit, I've had a lot of positive feedback on the series of Alien Monsters.  I had drawn lots of thumbnails, but i only had time and space for three of them.  Grow Old was the show piece of the three paintings and dear to me.  It was selected to be in the Dec 2020 West Hartford Art League Juried Show and continues to inspire my friends, family, and fans.

As I began to create my art exhibit for 2021, I knew I was going to expand the Alien Monster series. I got feedback on my social media about things my fans wanted to see these aliens doing and I began sketching new thumbnails and new characters: Gramps (tractor driving grandpa), Rudy (a surly 12 year old teenager), and an unnamed 2 year old full of joy and fun are some of the new characters.

I've created line drawings and value compositions for 10 pieces in the series so far, with working titles of "Space Escape #3", "Alien Earth Day", "On Daddy's Shoulders", "Hip Teacher", "Gramps", "Walter's Fire", "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and a series of 3 images that make up a story progression called "Swing"

As I've been working on these this past month, I've planned on calling the 2021 Exhibit "Grow Old Along With Me"  I have plans for a new version of this painting that is a little bit more personal to me and probably won't be for sale (sorry).  Then one day, I was listening to the above Youtube version of Peter Brienholt's music and I realized what I needed to title this year's exhibit.

I'd like to announce that my 2021 Exhibit will be called "God Bless our Love".

It is going to be a selection of pictures of Alien Monsters centered around a couple and their family and friends and the experiences both good and bad that happen in a loving relationship where two people are trying to love each other and failing as often as they are succeeding. 

It will probably be as autobiographical as most artistic work is and as I create these pieces this year, I hope you'll suggest topics and themes that I miss but are part of your own family's love story.