This piece, "Long", is for my Grandma Marg, wo recently passed away this year. Though not related by blood, Marg took us under her loving wings as she helped to caretake for my Grandma Ellen and her slow transition through dementia. I was young at the time, about 9 years old, and my mother and I had moved into Grandma Ellen’s house to help her pass on with grace. It was an intense, sorrowful, and beautiful experience. Marg assisted my mother greatly- giving her much needed breaks for showering, sleeping, and just getting out of the house. But more on Grandma Ellen later.

This piece is for Marg. Marg is my brother-in-law’s grandmother [fellow artist Chris Kaufman – aka koofboydesigns]. She was a ferociously proud and strong woman. She was a commercial pilot and instructor at a time when women were rarely considered competent in such fields. She went on her biggest skydiving jump on her 90th birthday - above Cape Canaveral. She raised her grandson, my brother from another mother [Koof’s bro] – Gil Long – to be strong and savvy man he is today. She was wise beyond compare, with a sharp and keen wit! This is why I’ve chosen to represent her as an all-seeing, all-knowing leucistic Eastern Screech Owl – pale and pearlescent. The mushrooms surrounding represent her wealth of knowledge – the adaptative intelligence of fungal bodies to grow, change and permeate.
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This piece, along with the other 6 works in this collection, are all about my 3 Grandmothers - creating ethereal effigies to their influence and legacies.