Transitioning

I was at the hospital from last Friday to Tuesday, sitting beside my step-mom’s bed, watching as the palliative care did its gentle job of helping Flora transition from here to there, wherever there is.

Her family (5 kids, plus spouses, grandchildren) filled the room day in and day out with their stories of their mom, laughter, kids playing games on iPads oblivious to the miracle about to take place, food, coffee, lots of trips to the cafe and to take my dad for walks around the hospital grounds.

In between, my sister and I were playing with watercolors on small scraps of leftover paper from around my failed monotypes. The paper is luscious and accepts watercolors and paint nicely. I told my sister and others who asked that I was taking this class SEWN. One of Flora’s daughters-in-law knew of Mary Ann Moss, so that was a nice point of connection. My dad married Flora when they were both 70, so I don’t know Flora’s family all that well.

I watched a video this morning that Mary Ann posted about the pattern-maker sisters in London, Collier Campbell. Their work is beautiful and somewhere in there, Mary Ann’s video challenged us to do something different and post it, so here is mine.

I stitched together several of the little watercolors done by my sister or me, with a stack of the strips I organized last night in that same color family of blues and greens.

I am calling this piece Transitioning because it captures the time we spent with Flora in her last days, gently holding a circle of light and love around her, telling her it was okay to go.

My favorite part of this piece is the translucent white paper with the circles in it. The light comes through, like our light in life and beyond. The piece is a bit wonky and imperfect, like our lives. Stitches show through, threads not quite perfectly cut off, and little tears and gaps here and there.

I miss you Flora. You were a beautiful, loving, creative light in my life. You taught me a lot about doing my art. Thank you. May you rest in peace.