The Gift of Life

I completed and presented this painting to my wife Meg on our 8th anniversary, May 20, 1980. It is a still life that was meant to represent a change in our lives as Meg was expecting our first baby who was to be born Sept. 4, 1980. Up to this point Meg worked a secular job but was ready to start a family. We both agreed that the time was right as represented by the balanced scales. Her working life was to come to an end as represented by the closed books….CCA as appears on one book stood for a former employer Continental Credit Adjusters, the next LAW, Credit Bureau of Greater Buffalo, and WT Grant all represent her working career. That was all to come to an end replaced by the book in the close foreground that has in capital letters Otsovstvo which in Russian means Parenthood. So the painting represents our balanced condition that would result in our starting our family. One that would ultimately include three children, two boys and a girl.