There Is Hope for Us All

Some images have to be made, they imprint themselves into your brain, burn ther until you can get them down. This is such an image. Our good friend Mary Sue faught a valiant battle with small cell cancer finally sucumbing in August. My wife and I had been helping where we could and spending time with our friend whenever possible. As it became obvious that the end was near Mary Sue's friends, theatre colleagues and family gathered at her home to say good bye. I was lucky enough to be there as she died, a moving , inspiring moment that strengthened my faith, added to my belief in family,and showed me the mystical relationship between life and death. This event and her life was celebrated in a memorial service hosted by her fellow actors, muscians and directors. What was obvious to me was how each artist takes in a singular event and through their respective art forms creates a piece of powerful art. A musian wrote a song and played it on a new guitar created and named for Mary Sue, playwrights wrote wonderful stories, actors paid homage to her work and I made this painting.

The painting is the moment after her death, her mother said, "Its okay dear, you can go." she breath two more breaths and then slipped off.