EULB MEANS FAMILY

This piece was a Valentine's gift for my daughter Faye, after an almost three year gestation. Its origin was to honor Faye when she graduated from Wellesley College where she rowed competitively with Blue Crew, defining her collegiate experience. I had found this vintage sheet music for the “Crew Song” on eBay sometime in her junior year and couldn't believe how cool it was. I wasn't even painting at that time, so put it away and hoped for inspiration by the time May 2020 rolled around.

Faye was among the many, many students whose Spring of 2020 was heartbreakingly cut short by the pandemic. At that time, we were so focussed on getting her off campus, going online and being supportive. But there was so much more lost in those final months, including their final trip to the NCAA Nationals and a traditional graduation celebration.

This past fall, after two years of painting, I finally felt ready to create the gift. I knew that I wanted to commemorate the final row of Blue Crew’s Red Hot Class of 2020 on the campus’ Lake Waban, the night before they left the campus in March of that year. This scene is a familiar one to those who know Wellesley, and was inspired by a video of the boat, propelled forward by oars stroking in a mournful rhythm. We were so proud of these young women for how they handled that challenging time. I wanted to pay them tribute with this piece. 💙