Both Sides Now

Both Sides Now 

9X12 Acrylic/Mixed Media on Canvas

I could listen to Joni Mitchell every day on repeat, but I don’t think my neighbors would like it much. Her cover of her own song, “Both Sides Now” listens so different - the two versions (1966 and 2000) clouded with experience evoking wisdom and sorrow alike. I often think about my own sides, how parenting has changed my inner landscape - new motherhood to now. How my own parenting differs from the opportunities and grace I give my own daughter. 

And, I can too…look at both sides now. Understanding to a degree the way my siblings and I were raised, while also holding or nursing my own anger and hurt at those decisions. It’s a complex thing to be a mother - you are the sum of everything up to you…and the beginning of everything after you. 

And what I hope is that everything after me is so much more than everything that came before. 

Mixed media collage, 3-D and all that jazz, with a layer of paint and acrylic markers for good measure. Fully varnished and set with a wire to hang - she’s ready to sit on your wall, reminding you of all the good you’ve done and how far you’ve come.