Beautiful Rita

“Thinking of Rita”

• Colored pencil on illustration board

My CA sister-in-law, Rita, died in August of 2008. A few months before her passing I sent her this drawing, which she called to tell me she loved. She liked the wind blowing through her hair, beautiful hair that chemo had made disappear. She was a California blonde beauty who loved water and swimming with ocean animals. A lover of life, I depicted her as Botticelli had his Venus, while daylight moves into night,  and the stars are echoed in her dress.  (sigh)………she is missed.