Out of the Ashes

When any of my pets have passed on I make a piece of artwork to remember them by.  Though I love photographs, my personal interpretation of their spirit provides more meaning and facilitates closure.  Sometimes it’s a clay sculpture, a tile, a ceramic mask.  This time in remembrance of Dougie, my sweet 14-year-old Golden Retriever we had to put down last week, I made this collage.

This piece pretty much summarizes his personality- colorful, happy-go-lucky, playful and a little goofy.  The painted paper I used for his face, tail, and the spirals are from a failed print that came from a printmaking workshop.  These so-called mistakes are torn up and placed in my collage box for a future reincarnation- a lemonade out of lemons kind of thing.  To be able to repurpose these disappointments into other forms that are pleasing to me is very gratifying and highly symbolic.

Out of the ashes we can find beauty.  We passed the Spring Equinox. Winter is behind us. The daffodils are blooming in the yard.