While I continue working my way through all the Studio Ghibli films, please enjoy yet another Totoro painting. I can assure you it won’t be the last! Painting Totoros has given me a sense of peace during these troubled times. He comforts me the same way he comforted Mei and Satsuki and I am so grateful for that. The films of Hayao Miyazaki are beautiful explorations of what unites all of us – our humanity. We need to be reminded that we all love and need our families and our friends and that we are more similar than we are different. Our shared humanity transcends any skin color or belief system and unites us as one giant family taking up residence on planet Earth.
Totoro Among the Flowers
I am writer and artist with a degree in art history who loves to talk to people about art. I have spent the last seven years building up The Wandering Art Historian “brand” as a way to connect with people who want to learn more about art. I give lectures and presentations and teach classes and host book club discussions with a creative or artistic connection. I also write about local artists, events, museums, and exhibitions to promote the arts in Central Florida.
In 2021, I had a creative crisis. I struggled with authenticity in the art making process. I decided to make myself vulnerable and find out what a real, genuine Adrienne H. Lee artwork would look like. The process was challenging and emotional and revelatory. I learned that if necessity is the mother of invention, then authenticity is the mother of reinvention. I reinvented myself and learned an entirely new medium.
The resulting artwork surprised me, and it will surprise you, too.
Some people wish for a fairytale ending. For me, the fairy tale is only the beginning.
The Wandering Art Historian 