All We Know of Heaven

This is a portrait of my mother, Polly, her second child, Robin and her first grandchild, Victoria. Robin and Victoria were tragically killed when Robin's car was hit by at train on December 20, 1978. I took the reference photo for this painting six weeks before the accident. Thirty-six years later, I decide to see if I could turn this old reference into a painting. I wanted to create a painting to serve as a dedication to the loves I have lost. I did this painting in 2014 while still trying to find my voice as an artist. I am influenced by Van Gogh. I wanted my style to be realistic but not photographic. I like the excitement and the energy created by obvious brush strokes and texture that is not part of a photograph. An artistic interpretation of reality is what I was after. I had my doubts while working on this painting if I would ever finish it because I was too emotionally attached. I kept reliving that horrible day and feeling the pain as if it had just happened. I know I should let it go, but I am afraid I will forget the love I once knew. I choose to keep the pain and never forget. MY life closed twice before its close; It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me, So huge, so hopeless to conceive, As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. Emily Dickinson