watercolor paper, acrylic and ink on tile

Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days

It is a fact of life that all of us will die. There is no way around it. As many guarantees as we hope to find in life, this one is 100% and none of us want it. It affects us all and the only thing we can do is try to deal with it as best we can.

Yesterday, my means of dealing was through art. I painted for me, and for me only. The piece was for no one else to read or see. It was not pretty or well written. It was raw and I felt drained as I finished it. I’d thought that perhaps I’d make a second piece for day 264, but it wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t muster the energy – which had me worried. I did not want to share this art.

I woke up this morning and realized the painting had helped me deal with my loss and that was all I needed it for. Now I could move on. I cut it up and turned it into this strange, dark flower. A gorgeous work? Not necessarily, but it did accomplish what I wanted – to keep the original words and images I created about my grandma dying private, while allowing me to continue to share my work.