GALLERY den HAAG

VII. GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S LEGACY

I worked on this canvas from 1982 to 1987 while travelling in America and India, and while I lived in Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas.

My mother died before it was finished. So I gave it as a birth present to her newly arrived great-grandson, Natt McFee.

Much of my mother's life is embodied in her colors, and much of my own maturation occurred during the making of this piece: I had left AFI, I discovered Indian philosophy and fell in love with India, wrote over a thousand poems in three year, became a nanny for two exceptional children, Rosa Hughes, and Steven Polchinsky, and learned Xoomij singing from Santiago Villerela. GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S LEGACY, when finished was, itself, blessed by my Guru's successor.

Unlike most needlepointers, I love the challenge of running out of a color. Notice that the wide green border near the edge is a different color on the right than on the left. In Oriental rug making these "differing dye-lot" colors are known as "abrash" and are considered a distinctive and desirable part of the design. Also note that this needlepoint is almost all borders, another effect borrowed from Oriental rugs.