The Weeds of Windsor

Acrylic on canvas

36" x 60", 2005

After dropping Rachel off at college in Chicago, Laura, Jacob and I stopped off in Windsor, Canada for the night. Next to our hotel was an overgrown lot. I walked over there after dinner, and sketched some beautiful weeds, trees, birds, and a tree getting strangled by vines. Upon returning home, I spent several weeks sketching out the painting. During this time, Laura was getting progressively weaker from the cancer treatments.  Rachel came home from college in December, and Laura died two months later. I started painting in this painting the day after Laura died. I wanted to make a very beautiful picture to remember her by. Laura loved decorative patterns. I worked obsessively, getting every detail as sharp as possible. For two or three weeks, I was good for doing nothing else.