A portrait of my daughter who is turning 18 in July.  She is going to college next year.  The most exiting and innocent time in life.  

George and I went to pick up Gloria Steinem from Belvedere.  I read a lot about her online,but it does not tell one much.  We brought her to UC Berkeley campus for her first appearance at 12 p.m. and listened to her speech, and the conversations she had with a couple of young women. One of them was very  moving - she was asking what she can do in order not to follow into the steps of other women in her family - her sister is an escort, her mom alcoholic:  no money to go to school and no help from anybody.  

Gloria is a wonderful, unassuming, generous, beautiful person.  A teacher and a guide.  

Dolores Huerta

Yuri Kuchiyama

Mable, Tameeka , Sylvia and I went to visit Yuri at her place on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. 

She was so curious about who we are, each one of us.  Asked follow-up questions if she wanted to understand better.   Mable talked with her about the speech for the Four Legend event .  

She is the most humble yet fierce person I came across.  Passionate and compassionate.  I feel lucky to have met her - she is 94 years old!

I was asked to paint four paintings to honor those women and their work. I am posting 2 of them today and write more about it tomorrow.  It was such a great experience. 

The Four Legends of Feminism - Gloria Steinem, Eileen Hernandez, Yuri Kuchiyama and Dolores Huerta
                                    "Passing the Baton"

Sunday, April 26, 2009
UC Berkeley More than 350 women and a contingent of supportive men came to engage with each other and start a new national pipeline of multicultural women leaders in business, politics, and media. From ten-year-old bloggers from an all-girls middle school in Oakland to 80-year-old activists as well as stay-at-home moms and college students, women came from across the country to join in the first Engage Her Multicultural Women's Leadership Conference April 25-26, 2009

Gloria Steinem as Goya's princess Alba.

Portrait of Eileen Hernandez

Happy Holidays!!!!

A tree house behind the house....

 It has been 6 months since I started working on the house.  A day before Christmas, I cleaned up my studio .  I am painting again.  

Our solar electric panels are working.  EPA wood burning stove got installed in a dining room, and it is great to read a book in front of the fire....  exterior painting is completed. New double pane windows installed.  Skylights are finished inside, and light in the studio is great!  Before, I could not paint without lights, it was too dark. We need to finish radiant heat up there, and the storage we built for George's treasures.

I will ad some photos soon.

To my friend Majka:  you are my best friend and always will be.  Do remember that you will be able to paint too.  You have a talent.  I will put photos of your work on this blog.  Do not give up.  There are sunny days for you coming.  Do zobaczenia - moze latem!

I have been talking with a friend that lives in San Louis about Sarah Palin.  I told her that  a mother of a baby can work and should work if she wants or has to.  As a  vice president of United States , her situation is very different.  She will have no time for a child.  

I she decided to have a child, she should have waited until it is in school.  Once one has a child, it is a   priority  for the mother .  A woman can work, or often has to work to provide for family.  Leading the country is a huge responsibility and very very different than a management position.  

My friend called me a racist.  My answer is - a baby needs mom way more than a dad.  A working mom can quit any time.  One does not quit being a vice-president.  What would doctor Laura say?   To her, every mom should stay at home.   Did any one asked her that question on the radio?  Seems that every body is quiet about this issue.....

My friend said that as a manager in a large company, she is the only woman there and experiences a lot  trouble from men.   It has nothing to do with this situation.  Where at stake is a well being of  millions of people, a mother of the baby is not a good candidate for leading the country.

As a woman and a mother, it is my opinion.  I am deeply worried.

It is almost October....I have been working on my house for three months now.  Completely underestimated the project.  And most of the time, I have no help - the remodeling cost is almost twice what I hoped it to be.  The roof is completed - and I only worked along to make sure the boys will not goof or ignore things that should be done.  We have 8 new skylights! 

 Finally, my studio has a great light.  Quite a transformation from what it used to be.  There were a few bumps along the way - Oren and Hugo fell off the roof, followed by the skylight they were installing.....

fell of 3rd story roof!  I still have nightmares .  I was there, watching them go down.....  and no one got injured.  A miracle.   Including the skylight.

A lot happened besides the construction - I will write about it later,  It is my new adventure with  Engageher.org