The amazing Cindy Woods is gone. I've followed her sketchbook journal, Learning Daily, for some time now, and have loved her sketches of daily life. Her drawings of the people around her have always been keenly observed and respectful of everyone's essential dignity and humanity. I once fell in love with a drawing she did of two Klezmer musicians, and wrote asking permission to use this drawing as the basis for a weaving, and she graciously agreed to my request. I later sent her photos of the work, and she seemed pleased with the results. You can see her original drawing here.
I had always assumed that Cindy worked in a nursing home, because most of her subjects were nursing home residents, and that she sketched in odd spare moments. I have just learned that Cindy was herself a nursing home resident for the past 30 years, and only turned to drawing late in life. I was stunned. I had assumed, wrongly, that anyone so "plugged in" to life and with such a huge circle of friends and admirers, lived out in the Big World. Well, in a very real sense, she did. You can see many of her beautiful drawings on her Flickr site.
Cindy died of cancer two days ago, and her friends and admirers all over the world mourn the loss of this brave, talented, funny, generous, and keenly observant artist.