The 66
drawings selected for this exhibit are part of a series of 300 drawings that
were started in March 2012.
My
two sons purchased caran d’ache color pencils and architectural drawing
supplies for my birthday, and Mother’s Day, in order for me to create these
artworks.
Many
of the drawings are part of my “Blue Star Series”. Blue Star Mothers is an organization that I
joined when Alex, my younger son, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012.
Alex
told me, when they gave me the art supplies, to make 300 drawings in 300 days
and when I would be done, he would be home.
I
entered the drawings in a blog and the last drawing was posted the day he flew
home.
There
was a short period of time during the deployment when no family member at home
heard from his or her loved ones. To say
it was an intense time is an understatement.
I have included excerpts from emails during, and after that time.
On
September 11, 2012, Alex “im’d” me that he was out of Afghanistan. Words cannot
express the relief I felt that day.
Eleven years earlier, Alex was a freshman at
Stuyvesant High School, and witnessed the destruction of the Twin Towers.
Color
plays an important role in this work, as well as symbols of stars, trees, and
geometric shapes. Drawing kept me sane
during the time that Alex was deployed, and it has become the way I deal with
many incidents that occur in my life.
Lisa Kaplan
