If you are familiar with me and my artwork, you may know the story behind my first print "Dia de los Muertos". My father passed away March 14, 2013, and as hard as that was for me, I wanted to paint a Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead painting, to honor my dad.
This Mexican tradition is a beautiful way to remember loved ones who have died. It is associated with Halloween (in the United States), and All Saints Day or All Souls Day, in Mexico, and around the world. It is also celebrated as a holy day in the Catholic church.
The beauty of the holiday is that family and friends gather to pray for, and remember those who have died. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.
The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so the souls will hear the prayers and comments of the living directed to them. Orange Mexican Marigolds are the flowers most often used in the celebration, as they are believed to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.
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| Harmony at the Day of the Dead Parade |
Because I live in New Mexico, the tradition is alive and well, and I am fascinated by it. My model Harmony, dressed up in appropriate makeup and dress, and we went to the Dia de los Muertos Parade
in Albuquerque. I would say that close to half of the people at the parade were dressed in Day of the Dead costumes, and although I was hoping for more marigold floats, we did have a good time.
As I painted the painting, I felt like my dad was right by my side, helping me paint.
After my dad passed away I was offered a Museum show at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, in my hometown of Casper, WY. The curator, Eric Wimmer was from NM, and he said he wanted that painting for the show. I painted and painted, and at one point I wrote Eric, and said, I just can't finish this painting, I am struggling with the lace. Eric said, yes you can! I want it in the show. So I pushed through, and when I had my show last November, it seemed to be the star of the show. My hometown paper wrote about the show, and focused in on my dad and the "Dia de los Muertos" painting. When the show was nearly over, I was thinking of donating it, so it would have a permanent home in Casper (where my dad had also lived, for almost 60 years) when I got the news that a very nice patron had bought the painting to donate to the museum. I was overjoyed, as it felt like this painting belonged in WY!
I had the painting photographed, and made prints for all my brothers and sister and mother, and other people also wanted it, so that is how I started making prints.
