i am sassa

Today was the second strange twist of fate to come out of this painting experience so far. The first was when I was painting Carrie Fisher and heard her say in the audio book I was listening to, “I was born on October twenty-first”. I looked at my iPad. Sure enough, it said October 21.

I was putting the last brushstroke on my painting of Margaret Atwood and was about half-way through the audio version of The Handmaid’s Tale, when my phone buzzed. It was a text from my son, Max. “Amy Coney Barrett was just confirmed to the Supreme Court”, the text said. I didn’t even know that was supposed to happen today. One of the best parts of this project is that it has kept me away from the news. My stomach hurts.

I had never read any of Margaret Atwood’s writing before. I have been wanting to read The Handmaid’s Tale for awhile, and several people have recommended her to me as a worthy subject. I liked what I learned about her. She’s Canada’s most famous author, and she’s written over 40 books, including essays, poetry, fiction, and children’s books. She’s an environmental activist and a serious feminist, and I found her to be extremely paintable. (that hair!)

I also liked the idea of listening to a book today, and it took me about five minutes to get HOOKED on it. Like bad. I’m loving it so much that I already ordered the real book so I can consume it again in my preferred way. So anyway, here I was, having a response to this book that felt surprising to me despite the fact that I’ve heard a ton of people talk about The Handmaid’s Tale in relation to current events. It’s utterly horrifying, yet somehow, strangely, feels almost familiar. It just doesn’t seem that crazy…but THAT’S CRAZY. I’ve felt so often lately that I’m watching things happen in a kind of surreal slow motion, like I’m looking back at horrific events of the past, then back to the present, and thinking, “Ohhh, thaaaat’s how they got there”.

Max’s text felt more chilling to me than the damn novel so far. Because I was right in the middle of thinking this: If I could have looked into the future when I was Max’s age and could have seen the things that are happening in our country lately, I would not have believed it. It would have felt nearly as unbelievable to me as the picture of women’s oppression and abuse that Atwood paints in this book. And people have been so aware of Amy Coney Barrett’s potential to hurl the fight for women’s equality waaaaay backward that they’ve been protesting her nomination dressed as…you guessed it…Handmaids.

Whoever is reading this right now, you should read Handmaids. It’s seriously amazing. I’m predicting that I’m going to binge on Margaret Atwood’s books, so join me! We can drown our political sorrows together in dystopian speculative fiction while simultaneously being uplifted by the brilliant badassery of this author.

Thank you, Margaret Atwood.