I am so happy to announce that I recently hung up a new art show at the 11th Hour Tea & Coffee Bar in Bellingham, WA!
The Rainbow Bridge collection was created in the spring of 2020, while I was six months pregnant with my first child. Our cat Spritely became very sick, and suddenly passed in the middle of the night in early April. The next day, we buried him at my parents' house, under the redwood tree, while the white magnolias bloomed.
The experience was heartbreaking. Here I was, growing a new life within me, while grieving the loss of my dear cat. He had been such an angel in my life, and adopting him as a kitten 7 years prior and caring for him all that time had helped me to prepare for becoming a mother to my own child. As the early spring bloomed, I experienced the beauty and wonder of the new life inside me, as well as the seemingly endless waves of grief pouring over my heart and through my eyes.
As a part of my healing process, I was guided to paint a daily portrait of Spritely for 40 days. These portraits became a way for me to connect with his spirit as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the other realm where it is said that our animals go once they leave their bodies. I worked with watercolors and all of the colors of the rainbow to paint his portrait and bridge my heart to the love I felt for him and the journey of his spirit. The process was quite profound, and different aspects of his essence were revealed to me each time I sat to paint. As I painted him, it felt like he was there with me. My love for him is brushed into these colorful watercolor portraits.
This show is the first time that I am sharing a great part of the collection of these paintings. It feels tender and also very aligned to let these pieces be seen. I am actually hanging these paintings up on the 3 year anniversary of his passing. My hope is that by connecting with this collection, viewers may contemplate their own dear ones (animal, human or otherwise) who have crossed over, and be open to creative ways in which to honor them. If you know someone who is grieving a loss, working with art as a tool for healing and integration is a profound gift in my experience.