The adopter, Michelle Verges, writes:

When Nick posted this piece on FAAN, he asked whether anyone knew the significance of the date, which was used as the title of the work.

I did--last summer I read Truman Capote's classic non-fiction literary book entitled, "In Cold Blood." This was a captivating and tragic story of a family who was murdured in Kansas.

So I emailed Nick to see if my answer was correct (indeed, it was). From our email conversations, I discovered that Nick painted approximately 400 pieces for this project. And he has great plans to display his work, which I find to be truly outstanding.

I think what's most compelling about Nick's piece is that he blends tragedy with subtle beauty. I find this combination to be quite bittersweet.

Needless to say, I am honored to have this work of art in my home. Thank you, Nick, for allowing me to adopt November 15, 1959.

Sincerely,
Michelle Verges

The artist, Nicholas Holliday, writes:

The title of this piece is the date of the Clutter murders, chronicled in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." I spent most of 2006 and the early part of 2007 making a piece each day linked to one page of Capote's book. This painting was a preliminary study for the piece corresponding to the page of text describing the night of the murders. Michelle had contacted me months ago, expressing interest in a piece which had been adopted by someone else just before she contacted me. I suggested that Michelle keep looking. By chance, she had read "In Cold Blood" last year, while I was plugging away at my project. I am a psychiatrist and took particular interest in the psychological dimensions of Capote's book. As it happens, Michelle is a psychologist. I felt that this piece would find a good home with her.