There are so many ladies who I think are incredible, and I’ve been having a very hard time narrowing it down to just 48 portraits. The only remedy I could think of is to either extend the length of time I work on this project, or I could also do some two-fers. I’ll probably end up doing a little of both. This one is a twofer of sisters I met a long, long time ago.
I grew up with Anna and Ali in New Hampshire. Anna was one of my best childhood friends who inspired me to be creative, and she was just the coolest! Some of my favorite memories were from times we would work on fun projects like a dollhouse made of recyled materials, a fake catalog called “Funky Fashions” full of wacky, themed clothing styles, and teaming up on various O.M. teams. I absolutely hated high school but had a daily hour of respite in art class with Anna and a couple other friends.
Ali is Anna’s little sister who was one of my younger sister’s best friends too. She was a talented gymnast and now teaches gymnastics to kids. Ali also probably doesn’t realize that she made me feel better about being teased at school by using her incredible sense of humor.
Happy Birthday Anna!
Also, the sweaters in this painting were inspired by this photo taken around 1986.