Fearless Frida

This one's for you, Pen...run on sentences and all.

Before Pen and I became friends of the bosom (her dear phrase) I knew about Frida, of course, but then the marvelous movie came out and then I was redoing my cement floors (texture, stain, wax, repeat as needed), and Pen was up to her elbows and more, helping (artist and indefatigueable creative soul that she was at the time), and she loathed most of my music (Joni aside, of course), so she brought her own - Randy Travis and the soundtrack to Frida. *Deep breath* WELL. Randy Travis was every bit as out of the question as Whitesnake would have been if I'd had any, which I am happy and even a little proud to report I didn't, so we popped Frida in and the first strains of Lila Downs' magnificent voice singing "Benediction and Dream" swelled to fill the not-insubstantial cathedral-ceilinged room.

I was hooked, and hooked but good. Pen literally wore that cd out by playing it to DEATH over the next year, and it had to be replaced. Fortunately, her husband was wise enough to copy it after the second purchase, keeping the original in a safe and paint-free place for when it will invariably be needed again.

Frida was an enigmatic woman, and profoundly courageous in the face of so much terrible pain. I suppose the thing that most appeals about her to me is the intense fearlessness she displayed, painting her truth onto canvas for those with the soul to see.

Frida was married to Diego Rivera, another phenomenal Mexican artist held in high international regard. Here's a little love song over photos of them together:


The floor? Beyond most people's wildest dreams...textured, stained, and waxed.