10″ x 8″
Pastel on sanded paper
Like the women of Peru, I carried my babies and toddlers on my back. I shared this joy with my, now, closest friends. The women sitting in this painting don’t have babies on their backs, but like many Peruvian women, continue to carry heavy loads on their backs long after their babies are off on their own.
As I have just completed a long backpacking trip, I know exactly how delightful it is to offload something from your pack to someone who is capable of handling the extra weight. As I painted this, I thought of my friends, and the loads they are currently carrying: a fight with cancer, a miscarriage, financial problems, and a long and varied list of problems from the babies fledged from our backpacks. The hills we sit on to share our burdens usually look like cell phone calls, and shared loads always become easier to manage.