Even though I was too old to watch “Lizzie McGuire” when it first aired back in the early aughts, I was keenly aware of the program as it had been popular among the students I was teaching at the time. I knew nothing about it except for its star, Hilary Duff, because she didn’t seem like the type to spiral into madness like so many of her contemporaries (and I was right). It is why I was pleased when the show’s creator Terri Minski asked me to paint a duo faceted set of the show depicting the McGuire family as the revival is slated to be aired on TV shortly. It was fun painting the actors in both versions, as this technique had been proposed by many people in the past but had never come to fruition.
Side A features a young Lizzie McGuire and her family, plus her animated alter ego.
Side B is the grown up and older versions of the same characters. I was only a tiny bit disappointed that Hilary Duff had chosen not to wear her Mermaid Blue hair for this role.
Now, to bum you out a little…I usually do a Christmas set every year, which I actually started and was confident I would finish in time. But the Universe decided to throw a monkey wrench in the busiest time of my year and it literally struck my Dad in the head and he passed away two weeks before the holidays. The doctors weren’t able to determine what had caused his collapse and eventual death, so I imagined that all the synapses in his brilliant, clever mind finally completely misfired all at once and the fuses shorted out. His death caused no more of an inconvenience to all he’s left behind other than securing a plane ticket so close to Christmas, but I managed, so were a host of other relatives and friends, to fly in for his cozy memorial service (or participate in the simultaneous internet live streaming in other parts of the world where he had bevies of friends). It only goes to show how beloved my Dad was, and I found out all the lovely things he did for people throughout the years. I now must strive to be the person my Dad was already proud of and become much much more than that. And I know I have so much of my Dad in me that I really don’t have to miss him…he’s with me always…but hopefully not when I spend hours in a pretzel formation trying to do something about my ingrown toenail.
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