Women's Work means get 'er done

​Here is one of the paintings I’ve started for the show Women's Work and the subject is my mom, Beth. Growing up I always loved the old cepia photo, but never really understood what it meant and she didn’t really ever explain. The photo was taken in the early 1940’s at Fort William McKinley in the Philippines when she was 3 and shortly before the Japanese invasion. Needless to say, WWII drastically changed the course of her life. (Part of the story is detailed below.)

With grit and a loving extended family, life continued without fanfare or pity after evacuating from Manila and she went on to live an accomplished life. She never talked about it because she grew up with a get ‘er done attitude. Unique stories like hers have been the motivation for this show.

Mom loved the idea of Women's Work, helped with some preliminaries, and told everyone she knows about it. Everyone. But fate intervened again and sadly she died February 8th and will not get to see the show.

​So now, I’m in get ‘er done mode. 

From the website- Find A Grave: Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
Lt. Col. Stanley Holmes was held as a POW in the Philippine Islands. In December 1944, he was boarded onto the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. The ship sailed on December 13th and came under attack from American planes on December 14th. As evening approached, the attack was called off. The next day the planes returned and continued the attack. When the pilots saw the large number of men climbing from the ship’s holds, they realized the ship was carrying POWs and called off the attack. After the POWs were off the ship, the attack resumed and the ship was sunk by American planes at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on December 15, 1944. Holmes was killed during the attack on the ship.