During my first year at Collage I had left Vancouver to go to Bellingham and visit the family for Thanksgiving. In Canada and the U.S., this holiday lands in two different months. So when I left for the "American Thanksgiving" the plan was to come back to Canada by Sunday Night. Instead I became stuck in Bellingham until Tuesday because of a random snowstorm. On Saturday when My sister and I took off to hit up Mt. Baker and the Two feet of fresh powder that had just landed, we only made it until lunch before we received a call that our mom's house burned down. No one had been home, and our neighbors said our dogs were okay. The next question in our heads was "Do we finish our day at the Mountain, or should we go back to my sister's place?"
That night we were snowed in at my sister's, and the next day we met up with our mom who had just flown in from Cali. No one had been at the house sense the morning before. From that time until we arrived at the site, two feet of snow had covered the property. At our house we have no immediate neighbors, all our houses are tucked away in trees and cliffs. Our house was still standing, But we had no roof and everything on the inside had disappeared as a pile of ash and snow.
I was stranded in Bellingham for one more night, all transportation to Canada had been cancelled due to the storm. Nothing had really hit me until I made it to my apartment in Vancouver. Then it struck me, my childhood home was gone. To cope with it, I made two remembrance paintings. The first one was driven by the sorrow I felt. I had nothing but matte board to paint on, so I did.
I made this in one sitting, very late at night. Afterwards I felt much better, but it started me thinking about another painting that I had wanted to make for a long time (A year or so) but had never gotten' around to it. The image was a view from our living room, where my mom had a very large circular stain-glass hanging in our window of the Shri Yantra. It hung behind a multitude of jungle-like plants and ferns. So as my second mission, a began to paint my second picture.
I guess you could call this my moment of closure. Of course I still felt a like I had lost something I could not replace, but that would eventually dissipate along with all other objects you ever try holding onto. Yes... I miss my teddies from when I was a child, but you learn that life continues on in moments that continuously become memories. These two images are my best memories of this place.
That night we were snowed in at my sister's, and the next day we met up with our mom who had just flown in from Cali. No one had been at the house sense the morning before. From that time until we arrived at the site, two feet of snow had covered the property. At our house we have no immediate neighbors, all our houses are tucked away in trees and cliffs. Our house was still standing, But we had no roof and everything on the inside had disappeared as a pile of ash and snow.
I was stranded in Bellingham for one more night, all transportation to Canada had been cancelled due to the storm. Nothing had really hit me until I made it to my apartment in Vancouver. Then it struck me, my childhood home was gone. To cope with it, I made two remembrance paintings. The first one was driven by the sorrow I felt. I had nothing but matte board to paint on, so I did.
I made this in one sitting, very late at night. Afterwards I felt much better, but it started me thinking about another painting that I had wanted to make for a long time (A year or so) but had never gotten' around to it. The image was a view from our living room, where my mom had a very large circular stain-glass hanging in our window of the Shri Yantra. It hung behind a multitude of jungle-like plants and ferns. So as my second mission, a began to paint my second picture.
I guess you could call this my moment of closure. Of course I still felt a like I had lost something I could not replace, but that would eventually dissipate along with all other objects you ever try holding onto. Yes... I miss my teddies from when I was a child, but you learn that life continues on in moments that continuously become memories. These two images are my best memories of this place.
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