MY LIFE AS A WWaBT NOW AVAILABLE

My journal entries became my blog; my blog became reams of notes; ultimately (because I can't let good enough alone), I compiled my notes into my first book: My Life As a WWaBT. (Pronounced "wabbit," it stands for "Woman With a Brain Tumor.") Kathleen Daughan says, "It's an engaging telling of a life changing event. Beautifully written with a sense of humor and purpose. Judy paints, with words, exactly how a couple gets through some terrifying times."

And from Donna Tabbert Long: "A truthful and gifted writer, Judy shares her world shattering journey as a woman with a brain tumor in a way that made me laugh, cry, cringe and smile. It's a memorable

and ultimately, life affirming story.”

You can order it through Blurb.

A LIST OF GREAT READS

The Reader
by Judy Westergard
Oil on canvas

Four times a year I compile a list of my favorite reads and print them out as a bookmark. They've become a favorite freebie among folks who visit my studio. It occurred to me that it might be nice to share my current list with a broader audience. What follows is my favorites from Winter '09-10. Anything you'd add? Post it in the comment section. I'd love to hear about it. Happy reading!

Plainsong
Kent Haruf

City of Thieves
David Benioff

Noah’s Compass
Anne Tyler

Notes from
the Cracked Ceiling
Anne E. Kornblut

The Madonnas
of Leningrad
Dean Debra

The Glass Room
Simon Mawer

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson

Loving Frank
Nancy Horan

The Lacuna
Barbara Kingsolver

Lit
Mary Karr

IN THE DOLL'S HOUSE

"In the Doll's House"
oil on archival paper
12" x 8"

Stories occur to me as I paint. Usually they're from my memories of growing up in northeast Minneapolis. I lived a fantasy life...not the kind that's ideal, but rather the sort that comes from reading and the wish that my dull little adolescent life were more like that of the heroines I found in Jane Eyre, Sue Barton Student Nurse, and Gone with the Wind. This is part of a children's story that came to me as I worked on "In the Doll's House." The rest isn't ready for sharing yet; maybe it never will be. Still....I keep thinking that the story is in that box somewhere, hidden with the costume.
"She reached into the old box hoping, wishing, to find just the right costume that would help her pretend to be someone else, just this once, just for this magical night."

OLD BOOK FROM FAR AWAY

The Meeting
by Judy Westergard
Pastel on paper
available as giclee print through
FineArtAmerica.com


One of my self-appointed January tasks is to clean my bookcases. Once a year I set myself the goal of winnowing through my stacks, if only to make room for new titles. But it’s a fool’s task. Inevitably some title grabs my attention; by noon I’m still stretched out on the floor, happily involved in an old title I’ve not looked at for a very long time. This time it’s Basic Principles of Domestic Science by Lilla Frich, B.A. First published in 1908, my 1913 revised edition was the home economics text book for the Minneapolis Public School system. I don’t recall how I acquired this book but I’m glad I did. What a kick it is to read about what was considered ideal homemaking a century ago. Proper tone is set on page 8 where students learn about classroom attire. “Each girl should be provided with a simple uniform...(which) consists of a cap, apron and sleevelets. A holder, hand-towel (sic) and a bag in which to carry the uniform back and forth to school are also needed.” Once in class, the girls learned the importance of cleaning, right down to how to care for a broom: “Brooms should be washed in hot soapy water once a week to keep them soft and pliable.... Do not wet the tacks or wires on the broom as they will rust and break.” “How to Dust” gets a full page of its own. After weeks (months?) of learning how to clean and how to prepare meals, students were ready to move on to the big show: A Company Luncheon for Six. Can you imagine the work of preparing crab meat cocktail, cream of tomato soup (this was made from scratch with home grown tomatoes canned earlier in the year); and zephyrettes. (Huh?) Main course: lamb chops, creamed potatoes, relish in lemon boats. Next course: Neufchatel cheese and pimento salad with fresh-baked yeast rolls. And at last, dessert: strawberry charlotte with strawberry sauce along with white cake with pink frosting. Oh...and fresh coffee. I think back to the young women whose families settled in Minneapolis in the early 20th century -- for the most part they were first generation daughters of Scandinavian and Eastern European immigrants -- and I wonder whether the real purpose of the Domestic Science class for which this text was intended wasn’t to prepare a girl for the likely job of maid or cook rather than the purported job of homemaker in her own home. Three hours later I get up off the floor and decide that my self-appointed task of cleaning my bookshelves isn’t such a big deal after all. In fact, it can jolly well wait ‘til I get around to it...maybe next year. Right now I need to prepare a luncheon menu for one: peanut butter sandwich and cold milk. It may not be elegant, but it sure is easy!

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Waiting Rooms
by Judy Westergard
available as giclee reprint at
FineArtAmerica.com

It’s a cliché to say that time spent in a bookstore makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop, but I have no better words to describe how bookstores affect me. Stacks and piles and shelves of books -- the lure of potential escape begs me to spend the next hour wandering, touching, compiling lists of titles I want to read. And the aroma...oh my! A bookstore’s aroma elicits in me a nostalgia that I associate with a warm loaf of homemade bread.
I wander through poetry, fiction, memoir, history...children’s books! I no longer have children in my life but this doesn’t stop me from spending time in this section. Is it by accident that my eye falls first on C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? I skim through the first couple of pages. “...it would be worth while trying the door of the wardrobe, even though (Lucy) felt almost sure that it would be locked.... She took a step further in -- then two or three steps -- always expecting to feel woodwork against the tips of her fingers. But she could not feel it.”
And suddenly I’m in a time warp. My surroundings change and I see myself in my small dark closet. I've tucked myself into my mother's wicker laundry basket. I hold a flashlight in one hand and my book in the other and I know with absolute certainty that if I could find just the right spot on my closet wall, like Lucy I would find myself in some other world, one that was more magical, more exciting than my 1955 world of school, church and chores.
And I did find that place. I didn’t know it then, but it was in that book and in all the books of my childhood that preceded it and in all the books that have since followed. Poetry, fiction, history, memoir and more...they’ve all been a kind of magic wardrobe for me. They still take me out of my everyday world. And yes, I still dream about finding just the right spot in a closet. It’s a dream I hope never to lose.