Soft Pastel painting measuring 3”x3” and mounted in a 9”x9” mat with backing support.

Hilderbrand spent her summers on Cape Cod, "playing touch football at low tide, collecting sea glass, digging pools for hermit crabs, swimming out to the wooden raft off shore," until her father died in a plane crash when she was sixteen. She spent the next summer working, doing piecework in a factory that made Halloween costumes. She promised herself that the goal for the rest of her life would be to always have a real summer.

Each painting in this 40-day collection, Skies The Limit, is named after a famous female writer or poet who has taught me an important lesson or challenged my philosophy on life. This list includes women like Elizabeth, Charlotte, Emily, Maya, Mary, Jane, Danielle, and Sylvia whose last names are unnecessary.

I'm drawn to skies for many reasons. While growing up, my sisters and I would stare at the clouds and watch animals and faces appear as they floated by. My parents always had us outdoors and showed us how to take time to pause and notice the sunsets or sunrises. Skies depict emotions and moods. You can have a very dark stormy sky (my favorite) or a bright blue billowy, cloudy sky. I love them all and I hope you do, too. Or, at least start to take notice of Mother Nature's beauty.

Painting will ship within two weeks with important care instructions on framing. Mat included.