A Letter from Linda

On August 12th my post highlighted the wonderful works of Linda Shobe. Your reaction to her work was just as I had anticipated - overwhelmingly positive & engaging. Especially to the first painting 'You were only waiting for this moment to arrive'.

Recently, much to my delight, Linda left a comment on that post & we have since had the chance to communicate in greater depth. I have learnt much more about 'You were only waiting' & I'd like to share her comments with you.

"A few years ago, my husband and I attended a Paul McCartney concert. Just before Paul played Blackbird, he proceeded to explain what the song was about. As a typical shallow-minded teenager, I always thought the song was merely about a black bird -- on the contrary -- Sir Paul informed the audience that in England 'bird' is slang for girl (in the U.S., it's 'chick'). He further stated that Blackbird was written about black women in the U.S. who were breaking out of their bonds of oppression. I was captured by the phrase, '...take these broken wings and learn to fly; all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive.' As you can see, this became the inspiration for a painting. I had seen an old brass birdcage in a local antique shop for some time and knew I wanted to paint it. All of these thoughts came together one day and helped me create what has become one of my favorite paintings."

I was deeply moved reading Linda's account of her inspiration for the painting. Once again, life has reminded me to look beyond the obvious & the predictable. Linda said we were all on the right track with our comments, she just had to fill in the details!

When Linda's not painting, she does floral design for a shop named Domain XCIV . A second store dhcollection is where her paintings are sold. Linda & her husband Mark live in a semi-rural area south of Fort Worth, Texas.

It's been a wonderful experience getting to know a little more about Linda. Each day my blogging experiences enrich my life in the most unforseeable & amazing ways!