grieving death while growing life

  This 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 w