Oddly, this abstract makes me think of my dog

This one makes me think of my dog.

I made 17 paintings, back to back, for my Sojourn in Wonder Land show over the course of a week or two. I was having so much fun playing with the watercolors and seeing how each piece turned out.

One of them stopped me in my tracks and made my heart skip a beat. As I was painting it, I was suddenly reminded of my dog, Joe. I said goodbye to my little buddy over 10 years ago. He had a room full of people and a doggy friend at the SPCA. It’s nicer than it sounds; the rooms are set up for this with couches, low lighting, big dog beds, and tons of tissues.

After we all shed a million tears and said our goodbyes, I reluctantly left his body there in that room. I thought, “From here on, I’m just going to get farther and farther away from him.” Farther away in time, as the years keep passing by.

Here we are, 10 years later, and he’s So Far Away Now, which is what I named this painting. Most of the paintings in this series remind me of nebulae and outer space. Which is how I see them connected, with time and space. And something about this one made me think of my Joe Joe Bun.

Losing Joe is one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. He was my doggy soulmate, my shadow, my best friend.

Have you ever been reminded of a loved one by something random?

So Far Away Now, watercolor and pastel, 12×18

PS – if you’re in San Francisco, you can see it at Hotel Biron (wine bar) through August 22nd.