This is not an easy piece. Neither for me to create, nor, it turns out , for others to view. It's small, at just 8x10 inches. Yet response to it at my shows has been large, intense and at times discomforting. Back Story: It took two years for me to respond artistically to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I buried my turmoil and devoted myself to happy pieces, to my garden, to my husband and good food and walking the dog. I carefully stuck to my regular life. And counted my blessings. As the devastations continued, one word kept ringing...hope. I hoped that the bloodeshed would end, that all concerned would look for peace. That within all borders mothers and children would no longer weep and mourn and be afraid. That sons and husbands would put down their weapons and discard their prejudice and hate. New terms seeped into our lexicon...collateral damage, WMD's, soft bombs... and I tried to drown them out with old words I'd learned as a child: "Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all." - Emily Dickinson Materials: Textured acrylics, digital manipulated photos of Kabul and Bagdhad, textbook image of an owl, feathers, ink.