Car parts surround this Outsider Art picture. They’re also hinted at at the bottom left of the painting itself, behind which a woman sits on her easy chair in a stripped room.  Behind her room is another stripped room containing a window where light, white as a sun, shines through.

The other day John’s mind was hopping from one deep thought to another when the phone rang. A friend of his from his time in Vietnam said, “How are you doing?” “O.K..” “What have you been doing?” “Nothing,” the caller trying to connect and John’s mind was saying,”What do you want? I’m busy here. I can’t change gears that fast.” This friend is a brother, a spirit brother you could say, to John so they settled in talking about the weather and stuff they put in their mouths, beer for them, it would have been chocolate for me. They could have be newborns, talking about their physical comfort and discussing pacifiers. We’re so much more than simply physical, as John reminded me a few days ago referring to C, S, Lewis. Lewis was asked if he believed that he had a soul. ” I don’t have a soul. I am a soul; I have a body. This is one of the ideas in this painting, where white is the sun and also the spirit, or soul, of the woman.

So I have a solution to the problem of not shifting gears fast enough when answering the phone: a list of lofty topics sitting beside it. For instance; the phone rings, “Hello?”  I say. “Hi, this is Cathy. How are you doing?” “Oh, wonderful, did you know that in the electromagnetic field, scientists are hopping that, the helix formed, polarized light will interact with other molecules with chirality? Chirality is my new word and idea, meaning right handedness and left handedness. Makes you wonder about all those molecules without chirality doesn’t it?” I always think of physics as being one of God’s languages, so off we go bonding on the phone at a social, mental and spiritual level.

So to wrap it up I’ve connected God to chirality in physics, to man, and to light illuminating man and the colors in the room, and to communicating in a more God- like way with a phone caller, but let me ask you this; Why do you suppose the woman is contemplating a cake necklace?  I haven’t figured that one out yet. Got any ideas? Please let me know.   nancymauerman.com

The Shoe Isn’t Important The Run Is – Framed

My Granddad hurt kids, but I learned to draw, as in my book, If Mrs Greeby Asks.   nancymauerman.com

My Granddaddy – Framed

John says, “I got two food groups in me today: fast food and left overs.”   nancymauerman.com

Oh Oh – Framed

A little girl’s doll is made of a flashlight, in a book by Barbara Kingsolver. I’ve thought a lot about this because I live with a guy who has a great affection for flashlights, candles, oil lamps, light bulbs, and nightlights one of which he applies to most every outlet in our house. In his honor doll- lights surround the frame below. The girl in the picture has breast cancer. My guy also has cancer and said recently, “Gotta look on the bright side of that lemon.” As well as he searches for truth, which we’ve found is generally funny too.   nancymauerman.com

I Consciously Detach Myself – Framed

The title of the painting below, I’m Not a Therapist, So I Can Talk About What I Can Talk About, sounds like crazy talk. But I heard a man say that very thing. At one time I thought my cat was crazy; I’d gave him a wad of crumpled paper; he loved it, but as a result he also became suspicious  of the furniture, the pile of books and the empty Spider Man head- shaped bucket on the floor, all of which had been there for years. I thought, “His logic is off.  There’s no cause and affect to his thinking. Crazy cat thinking strikes again.” But upon refection I remember a great deal of my water bill  pays for promoting the tourist industry, and NASA now promotes friendship with other cultures! Maybe it’s me that’s crazy; this is enough to cause me to expect to fall down when I walk.   nancymauerman.com

I’m Not A Therapist So I Can Talk About What I Can Talk About – Framed

John’s leukemia gives him many opportunities to do one thing over and over; visit the VA hospital for treatments and check- ups, so he looks  for new ways to “enjoy” that same old thing.

His “insights” lift the sag of depression from my shoulders, give me a lift.  John came home from an appointment last week saying, “The hospital says I’m getting shorter.  I don’t believe it. It still takes me the same amount of time to shower!”   nancymauerman.com

John’s Help – Framed