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I get a lot of questions about the
portrait on my website. It was painted by my friend, Liz Jones and
incorporates images from the places I’ve lived and some stories I’ve written.
The pink-blossomed branches in the upper
corners are cherry blossom trees from my hometown of Macon, Georgia,
known as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World. The
ocean scene is a memory from the years I lived in Florida. However, I’m near
the beach again, here in South Texas. The oil pump in the background represents
the time we spent in Oklahoma. That’s Enchanted Rock, a batholith, and the
rolling green hills in the Hill Country of Texas in the middle. The blue
flowers are Texas bluebonnets. Why all the Texas imagery? I’ve lived in Texas
three different times. I think we’re permanent Texans now.
The castle, three girls, daffodil, dragon,
and the gigantic underwear are parts of a story I was working on when this
portrait was painted. The large flowers on the borders are Rafflesias, the
world’s largest flowers, also known for their intense stench of rotting meat.
At the time, I was working on a poetry collection about unusual plants. The
tiny hedgehogs in the left corner come from a rhyming picture book manuscript.
That ancient typewriter is what I
learned to type on. It belonged to my mother and is one of my most prized possessions.
The dirt road represents the dirt road I grew up on and my writer’s journey. I’ve
been kept by numerous black cats over the years (that’s right, you don’t own a
cat), and the one in the background is our beloved Hodie.
The moon face over the castle? I
honestly don’t know. Looks like it could be a part of a story, I’ve yet to
write.
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