The Graduate thumb
“Am I good enough? Yes, I am. ”
Getting lost in your brain chatter is rarely productive, HOWEVER, One day I was lost in mine and the result was the creation of a complete body of work (okay, maybe only a SET OF appendageS). ultimately, these little bitty pieces would culminate in a solo show at Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport. If you’re going to collect and squeeze lemons IN YOUR HEAD - try to make it worthwhile!
Here is the statement from that show in 2011:
Thumbthing changed…
I took a hiatus from painting, primarily to properly raise my children and to allow myself to be a community “do-gooder” - a civically responsible social justice activist and arts advocate. Fortunately, life is cyclic and forgiving. I eventually returned to my studio with literally years’ worth of accumulated material to paint about and all my fingers and toes.
These paintings contain little of the valuable insight from those community experiences. Instead, they are the product of me being easily distracted by stupid humor and OCD tendencies. I am a depression baby’s baby turned frugal adult.
I asked myself after obsessively chopping scrap, but usable, museum board into precise 2x2 inch squares:
“What are you going to do with these, Roberta? Honestly, they’re really only good for little thumbnails…”
It’s a weakness. Thumbtimes, I just can’t help myself.
