thankful

self-portrait by cindy woods, june 21, 2006

I was deeply saddened today to learn of the death of Cindy Woods. Unfortunately it had been some time since I had last visited Cindy's blog; as a result, I was unaware that she was in the final stages of a battle with cancer and completely caught off guard by her passing.

I first encountered Cindy, and her work, a little over two years ago when I began this blogging journey. From the beginning I was touched by the sincerity of Cindy's art as captured on her wonderfully named blog "Learning Daily". Her work challenged me to ask questions about my own work and encouraged me to look less at my paper and more at my subject. I've often shared Cindy's work with my students...and frankly, many haven't "gotten it" at first. However, once they are introduced to the world of contour drawing and understand the difficulties involved they quickly become fascinated by Cindy's unique style.

It may appear strange to name this post about death "thankful"....but it isn't so much a post about death as it is about life --- and I am so thankful for the life of Cindy Woods and the fact that I was able to share a piece of it through blogging.