Statement for Diary of a Duchess II:

Diary of a Duchess II was inspired by the book Duchess by Sarah Holloway Scott about Sarah Churchill. This painting is the second one of the series. It is about the life of the Duchess in the 1600s. She began her life as the poor daughter of a seamstress and moved up to royal level and assistant to Queen Anne which is represented in the vertical presentation. Each stripe or section of color in the painting represents a line in the Duchess' imaginary diary explaining the materials with which her residences were made, the fabrics of her dresses. Her attire and the ballroom where she met the love of her life also took part in this piece. It was all precious and new to her. It begins with the wood section at the bottom of the canvas and again at the top of the composition. The "wood" can be considered a polished floor at its height or a part of her poorer existence where she began with a humble start at lower level of the painting. The rich red lines represent the days she spent with royalty as well as represents her servitude to royalty. She had mixed feelings of anguish and enjoyment in doing so and therefore the variations in the reds. The patterns of the time seem to be drifting from the present back into the past and tell the story of how her life changed that one day in the ballroom of the palace where she met John Churchill. The silvered grays of the patterns hold their strength representing the silver anniversary of their relationship and love.