When my sisters and I were growing up, my mother and grandmother had sayings for every situation. Some were used as teaching events and others seemed to make no sense at all. Why can’t girls whistle? We were taught how to behave and how to live. Many of these sayings sound quite negative, but they have their own poetic beauty.

I have long wanted to use these aphorisms in a project and since my mother passed on March 10th 2024, it felt like the right time to slow down time and think about her . As I was painting in the MacFarlane Studio at the Whitelely Center I was visited by this little brown creeper in my studio. My friend Harriet said - looks like your mom’s spirit paid you a visit - and I thought yes, she did.