The Art of Margaret's Heart
During my return visit to Renaissance Village on 2/22 I saw Margaret again. She is a resident there and cares for her grand daughter. She also works in the after school program helping with the functioning of the program every day of the week. I also learned that she delivers the "meals on wheels" for the senior citizens trailer by trailer all by herself. Needless to say, she's an active and vital part of the community there.
She also is an artist and paints, and I had a brief opportunity to view some of her pieces hanging in the teen/adult resource center. I remember them being rich in deep colors and depicting some reflections of her New Orleans memories and experiences. It has been some time seeing them, but I recall one night after the children left how she spoke of her art passionately. I believe that she had lost all of her materials and paintings in Katrina, and was working on creating more paintings for herself and others.
We spoke briefly on my first visit back, and when I asked her how she is doing she said that she is now selling copies of her paintings. Of course I wanted to see her collection and she let me know that she'd bring them for me to see after play time.
Well, she did have a stack of the copies in hand, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to look at them. I did manage to ask how much she was selling them for and she replied, "Twenty dollars. Five dollars from each sale with go to the charity Katrina Rebirth." Instead of keeping it all for herself, she was would give some to others who need help in their recovery. She herself was recovering from the disaster, yet she planned to share with fellow survivors. I swelled up and felt all of her strength, love, commitment, and healing in her gesture to be.
Margaret's art was valuable, but the art of Margaret's heart surpassed any tangible value.
I hope to be able to help her somehow with her sales. Possibly I can share the work online and gather purchasers. She has a lot of other things going on, but maybe with time we can pull something together.
She also is an artist and paints, and I had a brief opportunity to view some of her pieces hanging in the teen/adult resource center. I remember them being rich in deep colors and depicting some reflections of her New Orleans memories and experiences. It has been some time seeing them, but I recall one night after the children left how she spoke of her art passionately. I believe that she had lost all of her materials and paintings in Katrina, and was working on creating more paintings for herself and others.
We spoke briefly on my first visit back, and when I asked her how she is doing she said that she is now selling copies of her paintings. Of course I wanted to see her collection and she let me know that she'd bring them for me to see after play time.
Well, she did have a stack of the copies in hand, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to look at them. I did manage to ask how much she was selling them for and she replied, "Twenty dollars. Five dollars from each sale with go to the charity Katrina Rebirth." Instead of keeping it all for herself, she was would give some to others who need help in their recovery. She herself was recovering from the disaster, yet she planned to share with fellow survivors. I swelled up and felt all of her strength, love, commitment, and healing in her gesture to be.
Margaret's art was valuable, but the art of Margaret's heart surpassed any tangible value.
I hope to be able to help her somehow with her sales. Possibly I can share the work online and gather purchasers. She has a lot of other things going on, but maybe with time we can pull something together.
posted by aina at 12:28 AM
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