Children’s Hospital paintings finished!

It has already been a week an a half, but I officially finished the Children’s Hospital commission that began in 2010! I was actually brainstorming and sketching when we were on our way to Korea to bring our Benjamin home. “Great timing!” I remember saying. It was a bit of a roller coaster with deadlines, but what an honor for me to create art that heals.

Attached is the final piece that was specifically commissioned as a dedication piece. It hangs in the Mpls Children’s neo natal unit near a plaque. Moose, duck, sheep and frog are my original characters in the 22-painting series on that floor. This series depicts a story of these characters traveling to my favorite MN places doing outdoor activities together. This piece needed to match the others but be reflective of the neo natal unit, with only two specifications: include the moose and a rocking chair. I felt as a finalé, it wouldn’t be complete unless I included moose’s friends.

Like most of my work, it has underlying meaning–holding a baby in the rocker singing “Twinkle, Twinkle.” Once again, when I developed these characters we were on our way to meet Benjamin. He didn’t know English and we knew very little Korean, so one way to show him that I was his new mommy, that he would always be safe and loved was to hold him close and sing to him. I sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” (over and over and over…).

I guess in a way, it also represents my saying, “good night” to this job and quietly tucking it away.

Twinkle Little Star