Star Charts - 30"x40"

Size: 30x40 // framed

I grew up dancing ballet. I was pretty serious about it into my teens, practicing 6 days a week, when I realized that a dance career was not in the cards for me. And then I moved on to art. But when I was12 I wanted NOTHING more than to dance en pointe. Some ballet teachers give the ok for girls to get their pointe shoes when they reach a certain age. But my instructor had created a lengthy process for earring your pointe shoes. She had a series of charts with at least a hundred ballet moves on them. She had to sign off that you had mastered each move with a star. We called them “The Star Charts”.  Working on these charts was the first time I had ever decided to take on a task that seemed close to impossible. The process took well over a year of coming to classes every evening, asking politely for a chance to demonstrate a skill, and often having the instructor tell me I hadn’t done it well enough to pass. But eventually the number of stars I had left to earn reached a reasonable point. Those last few months I counted down from 20, to 10, to 1. The night I received my final star the whole class cheered for me. I had done the hard thing. We were all doing the hard thing. Being able to watch girls older than me work their way through the charts and cheering for those who were coming up behind me was all part of the process. This is how I feel about my artist community now. We are all doing the hard thing. At the beginning it seems impossible. But watching each other’s successes is part of what keeps us all going. I can appreciate that now. This painting has just a bit of that beautiful ballet pink in it. It is strong and feminine. It reminds me of my own strength and the strength of community. It reminds me that we can do hard things, and those things become easier with the proof of those who have gone before us.

///////////////

Details: This is a framed mixed media painting on a 1.5" cradled basswood panel. This piece will arrive wired and ready to hang. 

Shipping: I currently ship to the continental US and Canada only. If you live outside these areas please contact me to see if shipping to you is possible. Each painting is shipped out of my studio in Alameda, CA within 2 weeks of the purchase date.

Framing: Paintings are framed in my studio in a beautiful minimalist Doug Fir strip frame. The frames are 2" thick and set off these paintings beautifully and simply. The wood is left raw to show the natural striation of the wood. 

If you'd like to arrange to pick up your art from my studio in Alameda, CA enter code STUDIOPICKUP at checkout for free shipping.