So now I have become a decorative drawing

Sentimental scrolls

Coiling spirals

An organized surface in black and white

And yet I just heard myself breathe

Is it really a drawing

Is it really I.                                     Pierre Albert-Birot

I was living and teaching in Colorado and throughout 1999 and 2000 I was also traveling to Vermont for my MFA graduate program. During these years I took a sabbatical and moved to my childhood home to care for my mother who was being treated for pancreatic cancer.

Because I was in graduate school, research, reading and writing were part of my daily routine while I cared for my mom. I did not want to leave her side for my temporary studio, so I began to draw her while she slept. I drew parts of her face, her eyes, her eyebrows---profiles of her beauty.

At night I began to draw myself, emotionally exhausted but fully aware of the gift of documenting the moments that I sadly knew would end. Eye Drawings in White Space are my eyes, my experience, my sentimental scrolls to myself. 

Is it really a drawing, is it really I?