For two years I took a “process painting” class.  The goal was to express our feelings by painting, focusing on the process, not on the end result.  As we painted, the instructor would come around and ask, “Is there anything you thought of adding that you didn’t paint?” One day when asked this question, I said “I thought of dancers.”  She said, “So add some dancers.”  I replied in frustration, “But I don’t know how to paint dancers!”  And she said, “So what!”  I spent the next 10 minutes wondering what I was going to do.  Finally, I just started painting and, low and behold, simple dancers emerged.

Several years later, I was commissioned to make a large hanging for a church in Berkeley.  The group had come up with images they wanted me to incorporate.  On the list was “joyful dancers.”  I thought back to my class.  Being pushed to add the dancers (when I really didn’t want to) gave me the courage to make this tree out of dancers.   And the congregation loved them!

This piece is 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide.  The church was renting space and wanted a piece that could be used in a different space if they had to move.  So, this piece is in 3 parts; the sun, the tree, and the roots.  The pieces can be used individually or in combination.  This piece is owned by a church in Oakland, CA.