This is my valentine painting, 2004. The whimsical elf in "fool's garb" sits strumming her lute while her calico kitten watches, perched at her lap. The fool, the clown, the harlequin, the court jester, and the Pierrot are all characters who bring whimsy, laughter, and tears , for their role is to distract us from our self-absorption, to amuse us with the comic ironies of life, and to remind us that we are all fools on the stage of life.