On an early Sunday morning, a number of years ago, I looked out our dining room window to discover two albino peacocks sitting on my studio roof. I blinked in disbelief, but there they stood, perusing the lemon orchard from their high vantage point. Since my husband is an Episcopal priest, he was not home to witness the sight. After church, I told him about the birds but he did not believe me. His unbelief fortified my own doubt. Maybe I was imagining things. I told no one else and let the sighting go.

But the peacocks came back, again on a Sunday morning. Again, my husband doubted my story. Finally, the peacocks appeared on a morning when my husband was home, he realized my story was true, and so did I.

This episode happened during an extremely difficult time in my life, a time when I seriously doubted my call as an artist, and as a person. I was in the midst of creating a mixed media piece entitled, Descent II, which incarnated years of internal suffering and fear. Each day I survived was marked as a day of success.

Reflections
quilted silk, 2004
83” x 48”