Maria

Maria was my friend in Grade 1 and 2 when my life was one big fairy tale at The Waldorf School. She moved out West at the end of Grade 2. After a post card on the road, I never heard from her again until the wonders of modern technology reunited us recently. Maria had an amazing capability of weaving fantastical stories that seemed completely truthful to a small child learning math and English through tales of goblins and fairies. I kind of still like to believe that it was all true, maybe it was.

She had a friend named Squirrel - who was a squirrel. Every day at lunch, she would elaborately tell me about him and how one day we would meet. Everyday I awaited my encounter with Squirrel, going as far as wearing my eurhythmy* slippers under my snow boots in case they fell off while I jumped down into Squirrel’s hollow tree. I never did get to meet Squirrel, but this is how I envisioned jumping down that hollow tree.

*A weird interpretative dance in which all Waldorf students must participate.

Maria told me that every spring the birds fly above her and shed their feathers forming her wings so that she could fly with them. She must have told me this in the playground sandbox. This is how I imagined it.

I finally got these paintings back from The China Cloud. They are my first attempt at using gouache paint. Every one whose paintings I like on the internet use gouache so I thought I'd try it out. The sun was setting as I finally took these pictures so they're not the best.