During last year's Strangercrombie auction, I wrote about Marie Gagnon, a painter who keeps working regardless of whether people are watching. The other day I noticed these on her blog. They're called The School Yard and The School Yard 3.

I know a little about Gagnon, so I know she was the odd queer kid out on the school yard, standing apart not by choice at all, leaning in to appeal for acceptance or at least understanding. I like the red strip in the white, and the way it links to the red rectangle that's part of the group—there always was that one nice popular kid, the one that was nice when nobody was looking, the one you had something in common with.

And then there were the times when leaning in meant fighting back.