Re:The Collectors 
   oil on board 
   24" * 32" 
   1998 

My wife Susan and I had posed for Mia in front of a 
fireplace ...a year prior to the delivery of the artwork.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. Me in my 
favorite purple sweater and my wife, my friend, in a slightly 
unusual pose. Yet I could not imagine that that pose would be
emblematic of my utter existence at that point in my life, 
a pose that still captures my soul and heart today,

When you look closely at the painting you see not just a
couple posed in a seemingly unconventional manner, you see 
in an instant the essence of what makes us so. With the 
addition of a stained glass window, a window that we own 
that curiously contains the image of a parrot that we are
allowed to take care of (one never owns a parrot), Mia has 
captured our existence.

The many visitors to our house are stricken by the 
heartfelt expression on my face. They are disquieted by
the pose my wife takes with me--her back to the artist
and the world. Or is it that I am facing backward and
she is facing into the future?

Portraiture can be static. You can get a portrait photo
at Sears for 9.99. Artistry and emotion can only be expressed
by an artist who not only sees what she paints but sees beyond
the medium she uses. Mia can capture your personality 
because she sees and paints what she feels. That is what 
makes her paintings so moving.

When I look at our painting I feel as though 
I am looking into my own soul. 

Paul Norwich 
New York, NY