Appearance of Blood was a marker painting for my 60th birthday--I was born in the year of the snake in the Chinese zodiac.

I started by dropping red paint in the center, then washing the canvas so the center washed away and the outer splash remained. I'd dreamed of menstrual blood, and also of a white mesh over pelvic parts. I’d noticed a prevalence of red in my recent calendar scroll. The painting developed from here, with gestural marks and drops, then washing away. It felt like “Women’s Mysteries--innards, blood, menstruation.”

I used my cut-out of the “tit”, an Egyptian amulet representing a knotted piece of cloth associated with the blood of Isis, a potent symbol of protection in the afterlife.