Acrylic on Canvas

30 x 40 Inches

12.11.2023 A.D. - 05.17.2024 A.D.

 

Mommy...If You were still on Facebook you'd leave a comment underneath it along with a cute animated gif of how much You Love it...

 

It's of You as an Angel...

 

You always wanted me to "draw me like you do those Egyptian women." I always wanted to...but something just couldn't pull me to it... I know You Loved Angels but me doing #ArtAlchemy of You as an Angel while you were still Living didn't sit right with me. It made things...too real...and I wasn't ready to deal with a reality where you passed on to the Spirit World.

 

I now live in that reality.

 

It's been 7 months since you passed away... And on the 9th of this month it will be 7 months since we buried you.

 

But you were with me the entire time I painted you.

 

I added a lot of elements that were near and dear to you.

 

I used a photo of you that we took together as a photo reference to paint you.

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Your name is Genevia, which means "Juniper Tree." I researched the tree and it's a tree that can have a lot of healing properties. I painted you holding a "Juniper branch" with the leaves with your little friend sitting on one of the small branches. That bird would often visit you outside your bedroom window.

 

I used a Baroque Art sculpture by this Italian Artist Bernini as a reference for how I wanted to create your garments. I was trying to capture that Baroque style with the dramatic pose and Chiascuro light and darkness; at least with the folds. Speaking of the garments, I chose to paint them a lavender purple because lavender was one of your favorite scents and it’s also a color for Lupus.

 

It was an honor to add your wings… I didn’t want them to be “white.” I wanted to add a hint of pink to them.  You loved pink…

 

Above you, in front of the sun, there are four symbols: It spells out H-O-P-E.  I originally wanted to use Angelic Script but that would’ve been too controversial and I would’ve had to explain too much. Therefore, I chose to use our own language created for Sankofa’s Eymbrace. 

 

You’re also wearing the small cross/angel pendant you would always wear since I was a child. I also placed the necklace that Erica created to wear at your funeral. She made it because she know you’d like it and it would have been for you because you loved your accessories.

 

On the far upper left, there are four stars and they represent your father (my grandfather I never knew), and my uncles; your brothers: Uncle Johnny, Uncle Fletcher, and Uncle Robert.

 

Finally…

 

The last dream you had was of a puffy white cloud and it made you feel beautiful and wonderful…

 

I added that cloud… I hope I came close enough to what it looked like in your dream.  I tried to be realistic with it with the rays of the sun reflecting on them…

 

I hope you love it, Mama…

 

I know you would have if you could see it on this side of existence…

 

But if you were still here…it would be a much different painting…

 

And that’s something I’ve been dealing with…every…single…day…

 

I love you…

 

I miss you so much, Mommy…

 

So much…