"She Soars"

Barbara Hakenberry passed away recently and as one of my collectors and email friends, she will be missed. Not only by the Daily painter"s artists but by so many folks. I met Barbara when she bid on some of my paintings on Ebay and I realized very quickly she was a savvy ebay buyer. Even though she balked at the higher prices, I asked her to switch over to the daily painter's group and check out my work and the work of other artists because I felt the quality of the Art was better. ( also I wouldn't have to pay the ebay fees) She became an instant friend to many of the Artists emailing me and others often. Sometimes it was a joke or a video she thought I would like but at other times we would get into heated discussions about life and societies issues. We talked about everything and because we both has some similar beliefs about religion and death, I think many of my religious paintings struck a cord with her. She was an Art lover that bought paintings purely for the fact that they moved her. It was obvious, she really felt the paintings more than anything. I used to say she was like a Chcolate creme, hard and solid on the outside with a soft center. After seeing a new painting and before hearing what I had to say about it, or why I painted it, she would type a long explanation and emai it to me about her reaction to what she saw or felt from the piece. I always found her insite to be really interesting. More than once her influence would show up in my future paintings. She like realism and many of my works were abstract and I could see as time went by she began to appreciate some of the abstracts more and more. We also had our tiffs, she had a very strong and determined personality and didn't bother to beat around the bush, she wasn't the type to mence words. I have several friends like this and I'm not bothered by some of the blunt ways she would let me know I didn't particularly get a painting just right. We always worked it out and even though she didn't like the prices of some of the more expensive paintings, if she liked it she'd buy it. I of course always lowered my price for her as I do with collectors and friends. She would get particulary mad if she wanted a painting but didn't buy it in time and someone else bought it. So if I thought she would like it, I would send her an email. I also think she bought some paintings just to help me out financially. This was the kind of person she was, I'm sure she did the same with other artists. I would go to her ebay account and sometimes I would be shocked to see how many paintings she would buy in just one day. If someone had the room her paintings would make a great investment.

About my tribute painting... I really struggled as to what to paint and as late as 3am I still hadn't painted my painted for today. For some reason I have seen myself ( in dreams) as a bird flying over the landscape looking down on the earth. I've often wondered If I have a bird spirit which is watching over me and perhaps because of this belief I seem to notice birds following me. Flying from tree to tree as I walk thru the wooods. I wonder if in a past life if I were a bird and if so perhaps I will one day fly again. Since Barbara was in pain in many ways, I hope now her spirit is soring over the ocean flying ever higher and her soul is at peace.