I've been slowly working on this abstraction of a woman I call Mumma (Addams family reference) -- she passed away last year and I can say that it was one of the strangest, heartfelt and sad deaths I've gone through to date and I have seen a lot of death in my life.
What I am doing is letting the prevailing symbols that she loved and worked with find way to the board as well as my experience of her, both living and dead.
We cremated her, plus she was a fire sign and completely embodied that element so fire for sure made the board.
The symbol above her head here is the Axiom of Mariah, it was her working symbol and also the name she gave herself (Mariah) during her midlife crisis. Also, the Egyptian Goddess Sekmet and the Peacock flank the central portrait as these were of deep meaning to her for reasons I shall not get into.
I love doing abstractions, it's loose and feels a bit like automatic writing -- I have been inviting her energy into the process and I think I can actually "feel" her at times when I'm working on this painting.
One of the things about arting is that we get a chance to honor our loved ones in a very concrete way. I have also written about her in poetic form as a means of working through the loss.
In the end our loved ones live on in us, this I know.
I hope you love deep and are loved deeply. <3