While not wealthy in property or finances, I am certainly rich in siblings, children and grandchildren. Repeatedly over the years, certain works of art seem to convey their personalities and vibrations to me. I see this mostly in the women of the family….although I can probably come up with parallels and traits in the men as well. Of course, these are my own personal interpretations of how I visualize and perceive them.

Back when we were children, our mother purchased a charming little volume of The Flower Fairy Alphabet by Cicely Mary Barker (1934), which she read to the little ones before bedtime. Through these magical and delightful illustrations and poems, we identified with the fairy whose flower began with the same letter as our name, or sometimes with the drawing of a flower fairy we resembled. I think that was the beginning of connecting my family with different works of art.

My mother was enamored of the artist Mary Cassatt. I associate her with the figures in Cassatt paintings due to the care, love and connection between mother and child, which is the embodiment of who my mother was.

One of my sisters as an adult brings images of Edward Hopper to mind –

And for some reason, another one evokes a bit of Maxfield Parrish –

A third sibling is a Renoir in so many ways.

It’s not that any of the individuals in the paintings bear physical resemblance, as much as the mood or spirit they impart.

I wasn’t sure where I fit into all this, until I stumbled upon a number of photos and memes on social media and discovered a contemporary artist that calls my name.

“Flame” by Andrea Kowch (2017). Seated before a hearty breakfast, in the company of dog, her expression can be interpreted many ways and does not reveal the thoughts going on within. A peculiar sense of calamity, which does not appear to be necessarily alarming or unusual but just existing, occurs just beyond the door. Her hair mimics the out-of-control flame burning outside. The weirdness of it, the strange light, is something I find simultaneously exciting and oddly, comfortably familiar.

I feel seen.

The appeal of her work no doubt reflects and draws different emotions unique to each viewer. Decades ago, as a final exam for a college art course, I wrote a paper which compared Johannes Vermeer to Andrew Wyeth – two of my favorite artists. It was all about the light and the mood they communicated, the very same pull of déjà vu that appears in Andrea Kowch’s contemporary and surrealistic work. So it was reaffirming and exciting to recently discover that very assessment and more (a twist of Alfred Hitchcock!) so well described by Pam Coffman, Education Consultant at the Museum of Art – Deland, as a forward in the catalog Mysterious Realms – Andrea Kowch (2023).

I am moved by strange skies. And then, there are the crows. If you know me, you know about the crows. Her work is resplendent with images of crows.

The deeper I delved into her wonderful paintings, the more my family of sisters and daughters emerged.

When my organized, patient and well-adjusted sister came to visit and became involved in the clutter and disarray of a kitchen project in my weathered and dog-hair embellished house, we became “Without Measure” – (Andrea Kowch 2022). While we work together to prepare food, I bring up dark and heavy subjects nobody wants to talk about. Our discussions repeatedly return to the topic of our sister “Charlotte”, who has throughout her lifetime often been referred to as “A Squirrel” (see A Golden Squirrel 12/23/2012 for some context). I can’t express how much this resonates for me.

In gatherings where all the sisters have converged in the past, the chaotic dynamics and sibling frictions had sometimes emotionally devolved into this:

And finally, there are my adult daughters. When we have had the opportunity to spend a length of time together, I always have fantasies and hopeful expectations that things will happen a certain way. While occasionally they do, the reality is that visits often do not go as planned.

“Mom.” “Mom!” “Mom!!!!” They give each other silent, knowing looks. Later on in private, they will discuss the idiosyncrasies of their mother between themselves.

When that happens, I sometimes wish I they could become the little Apple Blossom Flower Fairies they once were.

My mother, perhaps wishfully, used to imagine our family in the idyllic oil paintings and watercolors of Carl Laarson or Beatrix Potter. Loving, domestic, cozy scenes of kitchens and gardens…..a mother feeding her little bunnies…. which brings us back to the Flower Fairies again.

Do you see yourselves or your family in art? What images move you?

~*~