This is Us

This picture was something that Madison made with Pic Collage.  I'm not entirely sure the overall meaning of this may be, but I think it's worthy of the top floor at the High Museum.  The phrase "This is Us" over and over again, with varying pictures of cats.  There's the descriptive, literal imagery of cats within polaroid photo frames, but then is there a deeper meaning to it?  At first glance, it could be a calming sort of thing, with cute cats, "LOTS OF CATS," and "MORE CATS!!!!"  But that jagged pink line repeats, and assaults the eyes, letting us know that perhaps things are not all well.  Indeed, the cat saying "Bye Bye" or the the cat getting rained on, or the one crying, or that very first one pleading for some reason... all of it suggests there is some sort of underlying nightmare lurking deep.  One wonders who the "us" is in this piece, and one feels a range of senses from pity to abject terror the more you look at it.

Or... it could be just a picture of some cats.

Madison has been into art a lot lately, of course.  And that's a great segue to her enrichment class today after school, which was the last one in this latest series.  As a part the month of February, of course there were hearts involved.  Madison did what she calls "Crazy Hearts," which hopefully we'll be seeing soon enough.  Her artwork is displayed in classrooms, along with other students' works.  Clearly, our daughter is an artistic genius.

We had shepherd's pie for dinner tonight, which was something we don't do much.  But it is gluten free, and it wasn't bad.  And in a way, it takes us back to our roots across the Atlantic.  Yes, it's just a thing you get at the grocery store, and it's probably made in Texas.  But still, the very phrase "shepherd's pie" harkens back to a grey sort of day with lush green landscapes, herds of sheep on the hillside and cottages here or there.  Inside a cottage, there we are at an old wooden table, eating our shepherd's pie by the fireplace as some sort of vague Celtic music plays in the background.

Our office at KidPak got new chairs, the first we've received since 2004 or so.  Those other chairs were nice, but... okay, no they weren't.  These are though, and we like them.  At home here, Ye-Ye restored this old mirror, and we have it hung up by the main door.  It looks nice - he did a great job!

We read some more today, although Daddy obviously had KidPak tonight.  We're still sailing along with the Jack Sparrow books.  One of Madison's favorite characters is Constance the cat.  This poor animal is so unloved, except by Jean.  But then again, this poor animal isn't very friendly to others either.  And this is where the humor of the character is, and why Madison loves her.

Perhaps that's who the other person is in "This is Us."  Perhaps it is Madison and Constance."  An interesting theory, indeed!  Certainly this piece of art inspires a constant inner dialogue!  But that's what makes great art great:  it makes you think.  And "This is Us" is one of those artistic masterpieces that does that and more.  It inspires!