In 1979, I sat transfixed by Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, the altarpiece in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. I sketched it from a pew and later tacked the postcard image onto my studio wall. In 1981, this pastel self-portrait led me to understand my deep connection to this image. Mary reaches up into the Godly realm. She connects earth and heaven, worldly pursuits and the spiritual. I, with my arms reaching downward to the drawing-in-progress, realize my own transcendence. This is what art-making is for me: a vechicle to discover myself, my world, and glimmers of the divine.
