Friday afternoon/Saturday morning, I became obsessed with a little dove. I didn’t plan on painting her, but she wanted to come out. My canvases for this series are made from wood and when I looked at this one's grain before starting painting, a bird’s head spoke to me, “Please paint me, make me central to your piece.”  No reason not to, I thought. Birds aren’t my forte, but what was one more challenge now?!

As I started to paint, I thought of what has been shared by others about doves. Picasso’s doves have come to symbolize peace, when, in actual fact, they can be quite cruel creatures. My dove gave me quite a struggle. A certain ambiguity began to emerge with her and I found myself fighting against it. That she was looking more ghost-like than dove-like was as apparent to others as it was to me. Friday night, I left her in ghost-like condition. Saturday morning, I brought more dove back in. Afterwards, her background seemed to transform itself from blue wash to being heart-filled, and, I thought, a little more hopeful. I felt a sense of composure when looking at the final piece. It was like nothing I’d ever painted before.