I never have to explain what ‘disappearing women’ means to other women. The full title of this outsider art piece is “Disappearance of the Women and Her own Two Stone Children With Clouds on Wheels.” Many of us who have chosen the career of child raising feel we have become functions- cleaning functions and babysitting functions.

I caught that in myself but then remembered my Mom who was constantly learning, taking classes, and reading books.  After a few years she added teacher to the list. After school every day my brother Don and I opened the front door to be met with, “I’m reading this book on (the Plains Indians, American history, parenting, geology, art, and more) and this is what I learned….”

So I held my babies in one arm and painted with the other and read Shakespeare and other great books to my children as they ate and at bed time. We had a hand-made time line on the wall in the living room and added inventions, authors, pieces of history, art, composers and information we hadn’t know before, to it. We loved learning together although at the end of summer when I dreaded them going back to school they said THEY looked forward to it. They, “needed a break.”

Clouds on wheels, stone children, and ladders dripping from the sky are also symbols in this picture. These give me ideas but I find other people have strong and very different ideas. Let me know what YOU think. You can also find this picture framed on Fine Art America. nancymauerman.com

Disappearance of the Woman and Her Own Two Stone Children With Clouds On Wheels