"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face" said Bern Williams, American programmer and consultant.

In 1993 I painted the mural, “The Temple of the Soul” in the Westerly Public Library and then erased it after being told I had less than year to live. In 1986 I was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and as an artist my goal was to express what I had learned. This show was covered by the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Associated Press, People magazine and the National Public Radio along with ABC’s news show 20/20. I am an artist who uses my art to express what I have learned from the various experiences in my life. So why am I now painting animals?

		After painting “The Temple of the Soul” I was unable to paint for seven years. Radiation damage effected my left arm making it painful to even address an envelope. Because I am left-handed, painting was impossible until I taught myself to paint using my right hand. An artist paints with what she knows in her head and what she feels in her heart. An arm, compared to my head and heart, I knew was far less important. No one gets a free pass in life and escapes life’s problems. We all get sick, or have loved-ones who do, and we all eventually die. We all have bills to pay; we all have challenges that we must face. Life can wear us down — if we let it. So where do we find the day-to-day support? Often a dog will come running up to me: “Love me! Love me! Love me!” I hear with each shake of its tail and my heart automatically opens. Two months before I was diagnosed, my cat Buster adopted me by wrapping himself around my ankles on the streets in Washington D.C. This homeless cat was very sick and not able to leave him, I brought him home with me. During the years that I was sick, Buster kept my heart open, keeping me connected to this world when nothing else did. Once my health improved, Buster got sick and eventually he died. After hearing about the number of animals that were lost following the storm Katrina, I felt so grateful that I had painted Buster’s portrait. I could still feel his love each time I looked at his portrait and, after Katrina, I knew I had to paint pet portraits for others so that they too would be able to have this loving experience and feel the connection that I still felt. (Buster’s portrait will be on display in this show.) Animals — and much of nature — have a way of fulfilling our need for connectedness. I have also have painted several landscapes of Westerly’s Wilcox Park in my upcoming art show. In the words of artist Edvard Munch, “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye ….it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.” How many times have you been walking outdoors and suddenly there may be a sparkle, a movement and tinkling of some kind—as though something is seeking your attention? It may be the way the sun reflects on the water or perhaps the way the sunlight shines through shimmering leaves; perhaps it is a sunset painted with colors that touch your heart. Other times we may simply feel nature’s stillness and deafening silence— as though we just entered a sacred space. An artist is touched by what she sees and shares this feeling with others. I see these moments as reminders to me that we are all connected to a much larger whole and that I am but one small “piece of a bigger pie.”

Just as a musician plays a song expressing his way; just as a dancer dances and an author writes, I paint to express my feelings of connectedness on — much like a runner who passes a baton on to the next runner. Whatever the art form, all throughout the world, people have always created and loved the arts. I believe this is because we need to experience this connectedness (in some form) to help us to live more fully. Through our creativity, we naturally do this: I think it no coincidence that creativity and creator come from the same root word.

To express my gratitude and to pass on the baton, after my art show “The Temple of the Soul,” I founded the Gold/Kjellberg Foundation at the Massachusetts General Hospital to help those who need the same medical care that I received. About a year ago, in Buster’s memory, I created the “Adopt-A-Pet-Portrait Program which helps animal rescue and welfare groups all across the nation. (See www.sandigold.com for more information.). Also each time someone commissions me to paint their pet, I donate $50 to their favorite animal organization.

I am now having an art show titled “Wilcox Park and All Creatures Great and Small” opening on Wednesday, June 6th from 5 to 8 pm in the Westerly Public Library, in Westerly which can be viewed through the entire month. From this show I am donating twenty percent of sales from all prints of Wilcox Park to Wilcox Park and twenty percent of sales of prints made from my paintings of (mostly homeless) animals to Westerly’s “Stand Up for Animals” and “The Mystic-Stonington Animal Welfare League.” This show is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.

I will also speaking along with other artists friends (a poet, an actor, a writer and a musician) at the library on Monday, June 18th at 7pm on “ "What Inspirers Artists”. This is also free and open to the public. - -

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