Karol Fenner
Watercolor Artist
Time for an update.....(Jan 2, 2007)
When I first wrote the bio below, my mom was in the midst of a baffling health crisis that was eventually attributed to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that attacks the peripheral nervous system and left untreated, it can be fatal. Fortunately, with the help of my whole family, treatment and rehabilitation have gotten her back on her feet and she is now in many ways healthier than before she was stricken. She must be vigilant about her ongoing recovery since excessive activity--something she is famous for--can cause a relapse.
But as is so often true of such a crisis, Mom's art has taken on greater significance and she is producing more prolifically than ever. A new direction toward including animals in her scenes has given her an outlet that is proving quite popular.
There is certainly something to be said for experiencing the depths of our lives that feeds our creativity and gives our days more meaning. If there was ever a wasted moment in my mother's life, she makes up for it every day now. I only hope I can learn to do the same.....
(April 2005)
Fascinating though I may be, right now I'd rather tell you about someone else -- my mom... not just because I'm feeling sentimental due to a recent health challenge she's been experiencing (www.guillain-barre.com)--okay, it IS because of that-- but she is far more interesting than I'll ever be. There isn't room to tell you everything --she needs her own website (and I am working on it!).
Karol Fenner is prophetic, though she probably doesn't know it. Prone as I was to temper tantrums when she first took on the job of being my mother when I was four, I remember how she would quietly admonish me for "making a scene". I realize now that growing up means taking the words of our parents as we understood them as children and giving them new meaning as they apply to our lives today.
Little did Mom know what "making a scene" would come to mean for me. All my life I have watched her make scenes, creating wonderful works of beauty seemingly out of nothing. Though some people need the credentials of a prestigious art school to prove to the world that they are artists, my mother has never needed such affirmation; she just IS an artist, though she'll never admit it. And that's the most beautiful art there is....humility.
Anyone who has ever wandered barefoot over the sand with my mom knows the size and depth of the footprint she leaves. Every step she takes makes an impression on the earth that no mean surf can ever wash away......
Don't stop walking now, Sweet Mama...
I just started following you.... |
