Francesca on a Heart Rug

Although I had recently resolved not to randomly add little hearts to a design so it can be reused for Valentine’s Day, there was a time in the past when I had done such a thing. The occasion was an exhibition on the theme of hearts at the gallery of Nina Liu and Friends in Charleston. I had a painting of a woman seated in an narrow upright chair on top of a round pink rug. I never liked the painting but was too parsimonious to throw it away. So I first changed the rug into a heart shape. Not stopping there on the heart theme, I started adding all kinds of decorative green and pink hearts in a make-believe fabric design behind the model. For good measure, I covered the awkwardly painted hands with a round bouquet of tiny white flowers. A funny piece, indeed, which I still have hanging in my dining room above a quilt with similar colors.