Judy i imagine you to be fearless, i suppose as you imagined okeefe to be. now i know…
Your post is so insightful on so many layers – so glad you caught this little bit on the okeefe auction by her guardians – i think there are no “guardians” – not wanting to be cynical but the fox are all out there prowling around looking for chicken coops to guard! so i hope this is not another chicken coop at their disposal. you are a One Woman Neighbohood Watch Patrol!!
And then that littler matter of the patronizing attitude towards women artists – another one up for the OWNWP;)
And your great catch on the okeefe comment about fear! i feel sorry for my own timidity and all the things i failed to do because of it! i dont think children had so much to do with it – in fact i became a little more daring stepping out of my comfort zone because of them – whether it was the simple matter of driving (not an airplane like one of your readers, but just a late 20th century automobile complete with auto-transmission!) so that i could take my kid to pre-school…or telling myself that if i didnt raise my voice it would in some measure affect the world my kids were left with (e.g. the last decade’s great war debate). The puzzle though is that i was not always so fearful: my emigration to the US is itself a case in point – maybe in such things mine was a case of “fools rush in where angels fear to tread” (what is it with angels and fear? they’re both purveyors as your Madeleine L’engel’s quote teminds us and victims are they?) and my journey since then has been a story of transformation and change – i suppose i became an angel – ha! and then …well there’s a whole book in there in each of us isn’t it?
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