I created this piece in the middle of the harsh winter gloom: snow sat piled against our fence, covering the top; the sky grew dark well before dinner; we had spent months buried under layers of boots and coats and mittens.
Creating is my way of escaping the cold. The little phrase came to me first and had traveled in my pocket for several weeks (my pockets always contain a pen and a small notebook full of random thoughts, {badly done} sketches, and ideas…endless ideas); the image to go with it came racing to me as I followed my children back home from the bus stop one afternoon. I recalled a photograph from my son’s room, taken during a trip in the summer, as he strolled hand-in-hand with his dear friend, and I knew I had all the pieces to begin.
Back to my library of photographs I went, taking a bit of this, a pinch of that, feeling very much the sorcerer as I combined all the countless elements into a final creation. Sometimes, you have to let your mind escape from the present surroundings, and I’d rather be here, because ice and woolen hats have nothing on castles and crowns made of stars.