Art imitates life once again.

I added the rest of the gold leaf tonight. It's difficult to photograph.
I added a few names and dates and marriages. A few more lines were added. I also added my great grandparents siblings as squares or circles (way up at the top under the brown line).
Mom's beautiful photograph is being replaced. I accidentally got some Cadmium Red on her and Chloe said it looked like she was bleeding.
I shared with Mom today that the thing I would most like other people to get from looking at my family on canvas is this: Family systems are rich and infinitely C-O-M-P-L-E-X. I am only scratching the surface here (really!), and look how totally impossible context is to ignore. Look how hard it is to get stuck on any one person or any one relationship. See how each person orients him/herself to those around him/her? Look up or down the generations and you begin to understand why.
So, tonight when Cody cautioned me about getting my canvas too cluttered, I, stuck in mineral-spirits-world calmly said, "I want it cluttered."
ps)Two cool things I never knew: My maternal grandfather's dad and mom got married on my birth date 101 years ago, in 1909. Also, my paternal Great, great grandparent Thiessens were married on the same date as Cody and me 121 years before us, in 1875 .