Where Beauty Softens Grief

$1,100 CAD

24” x 36”
Acrylic on canvas

This is a piece about not resisting or avoiding grief, but instead, sitting with it and allowing it to teach us and make us stronger. The words written on the piece are a poem I wrote about learning this lesson.

To grief and loss, whom I learned to hold hands with:
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At first, I resisted the idea of you. I kept my head just above sinking into actually feeling the weight of your pain. I fought, staying distracted, always moving. But you always caught up to me. You were there in the pit of my stomach, a lump in my throat. You stayed as my shadow while I ignored and feared you, waiting for me to come around.
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One day, I let the tears fall, my heart sink a little, then a lot. I fell into you. I decided instead of running, I would hold hands with you. Instead of shutting you out, I opened my heart to all you could teach me.
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Now I know what a gift you are. I know you waited to give me lessons, not to deepen the wound. You knew the stinging was already too great to bear alone, so you sat with me until I reached for you. And when my heavy heart could handle it, you planted seeds of growth. Through the discomfort, you grew beauty in a heart that felt unrepairable. You sat next to me in all my anger, sadness, and anxieties, and you wept with me. Those tears were just the water I needed to grow. And there lies your gift: out of darkness, despair, and messiness, you grew flowers. Each petal, a lesson for the taking.
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The biggest one of all I’m still learning, and that’s how to love me first.

To purchase this piece: please email me for shipping estimate. Pick up or drop off available in Calgary, Alberta.

To commission a similar piece: please send me an email with details, and preferred size.