Going No Place, Lost in the Dream

Going No Place, Lost in the Dream

This was the last illustration that my Mom saw me paint for the storybook as she lay dying in the hospital from cancer. I practically lived at the hospital and painted when I could. This illustration, though it wasn't intentional, seemed to match the melancholy one goes through as a loved one dies. I really don't know if those who have read the book actually caught on to any of the book's deeper intent, but from a personal level the book is a work of art that I mined from real life experiences. At the time, I was actually growing a sunflower in a pot that my Mom gave me earlier that spring. I managed to keep that flower alive, caring for it inside, perched on my bedroom window sill, until January when, like all things, it too had to die.

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