Month: August 2013

  • Maddalena

    What would possess a five foot, shy sixteen year old girl who speaks no English to get on a boat and go to the USA in 1914? She wasn’t a political refugee and was not fleeing a war zone. She was escaping a controlling mother! Her family lived comfortably in a small town, her father;…

  • A lost child

    Lost children can be found in many families. Their parents love them, but are too messed up themselves to be good parents. There are lots of clues of the dark side, but there are good times too. I was only 14 when I first held Tim in my arms. He was a lovable, beautiful baby.…

  • Ripped off, the story of “Jim” Fressola

    My only American grandparent was born in Manhattan, New York at the end of the 19th century. He was born in the USA to recent Italian immigrants. He was their last child, born when they were already advanced in age, and had more or less given up on having a son at all, having had…

  • Covina Beach Girl

    The reference for this painting was almost too small. I wanted to try it anyway because it’s so cute. Here is a 15 year old Evie standing on the beach in her swim suit with all her wild curly hair. Evie is my mother in law. I love this picture of her because it shows…

  • Meet the parents

    Okay so the only place my mother and father can be seen together are on my birth certificate and on some faded old black and white photos. But using artist licence, I can put them side by side. But the fact is, each of them contributed 50% of my genes, and both of their features…