On my way to work, I drive by fields. Some are sunflower fields. When in bloom, they are a sea of cheerful, rich yellow. After harvest, haunting rows of headless, wilted stalks  provide a new perspective- a skeleton on which to paint out my thoughts about our economy, insight into our history. What can I do?  I don’t understand. I see the invisible costs of war. It is the blind rage and the myopic greed of men fixated on ego, revenge and profits while the deficits grow. Darkness and despair, dismembered  bodies, broken families, disintegrated markets, burnt buildings. This perpetuates more war. Who wins? No one.  American made weapons may help Ukrainians protect themselves from Putin’s murderous aggression, but they are also used to quickly murder our own innocent civilians in grocery stores, concerts, and schools! Gun-loving Americans still believe in the power of a gun to protect; myth of the quick fix. This nation has profited from cruelty,  slavery, kidnapping and  murder of humans living here when the Europeans aggressively invaded, but racism continues to hurt us all! I don’t want to paint the horrific destruction, or gray lifelessness; I don’t want my artwork to traumatize.  But we must all take a closer look to learn, repair, heal and grow. “True profit” would be peace in full color,  fair pay for meaningful work, security in education…

 (We need to trust women to make their own family planning decisions)

Kindness and patience.  Love.

(We must meet the developmental needs of the children we already have)

Prepare for the future here on Earth. What can I do? I can feel, cry, think, talk, and I can paint. Pictured below, my acrylic “Sunflower Harvest” and my watercolor on canvas “Tidal”