Art as Comfort

In my previous post 3 months ago, I expressed anticipation of the directions I had planned for new work… And then my dear Welsh Corgi, Micah, began to show many signs of his health declining. Sadly, on March 19th, as we petted him and said how much we will miss him, he breathed his last. Micah was so smart and such a trickster! I have never had a dog who would surprise and make me laugh like he did. He was my “little-big-dog” in both stature and personality.

My art is personal to me; therefore, my latest artwork naturally took a turn to Micah. I have a wonderful photo that I took when Micah was young. He was lying in our monkey grass with only his sweet, smiling face visible. I laughed as I snapped the picture saying, “You remind me of a Henri Rousseau jungle painting!” Now, 10 years later, as I mourn his loss, I have put him in my own Rousseau jungle. In Rousseau fashion, I have some additional animals camouflaged within. The merino sheep signifies Micah’s favorite “friend” and bed—our New Zealand sheepskin rug, along with the flying squirrel he chased in our bedroom, and a black bird who, apparently, enjoyed annoying him. See the full artwork here.

The hours and hours of completing this have been such a sweet comfort for me.