HerStory

You can know someone so well and love her your entire life … be in on her secrets and thrills and omigoshes and heartaches … and yet sometimes she can still surprise you, shock you, bring unexpected tears to your eyes through the beauty she brings to this world.

Renae, my oldest friend, has a photo in Manhattan Arts International’s online exhibition, HerStory 2007:

Infertility 03 (© 2000 Renae D. Edge. All rights reserved.)

On its own, the photograph is a lovely piece. But when you read her statement (which I’ve quoted here), it becomes more than a pretty picture:

The desperation, pain, and humiliation of infertility are so profound that the inadequacy of words is welcomed by a culture that dares not speak of it. As the amaryllis bloomed and withered in my home, I found a silent companion in the doomed struggle I imagined taking place in my own body to produce a viable egg, accept one willing sperm, and allow them to take hold in the warmth of my flesh and grow.

Wow.

Forget that we’ve been friends for more than forty years. Forget my bias. Renae’s talented, damn talented. Treat yourself and visit her Web site. Waste valuable office hours looking at her work. Bookmark it and come back often, as she’s uploading new work regularly. Buy a piece — or two or seven — while you can still afford it.

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