4 thoughts on “Happy Halloween and Day of the Dead”
Wow! A beautiful work of art! Usually I don’t enjoy images with skulls etc , but I love yours. It’s beautiful and expressive. The flowers nestled next to the bone, the stitched leaves…Wow. Thanks Joy!
Thanks so much. I have had a hard time in my life with images of skulls and the art of the macabre, especially after my brother died. But I like the way Mexico and other South American countries celebrate the Day of the Dead. My son is in Mexico City celebrating that right now. Some years ago I read a children’s book called Georgia’s Bones by Jen Bryant on Georgia O’Keefe, and it helped me see the beauty of bones. Here’s and excerpt:
Georgia’s Bones by Jen Bryant
Excerpt:
In the desert, she picked up the bones
of animals – of cows and horses, pigs and sheep –
put them in a sack and took them home.
She cleaned them one by one, then held them up to the sun.
They gleamed with a white light, pure and bright,
like the sliver of moon
that crept over the mountains at night
and hung there, a perfect curve, like a rib,
over the sleeping desert.
She didn’t know why they pleased her so.
Perhaps it was the quiet way
they did their work – the years of being invisible,
youI like that! Having lived with arthritis so many of my years I’ve thought a lot about bones and their beauty. So much respect and appreciation for their work. But before now I haven’t seen the kind of beauty expressed in this painting. Thanks for sharing the words as well as the visual!
joy murray art~stories~life 
Wow! A beautiful work of art! Usually I don’t enjoy images with skulls etc , but I love yours. It’s beautiful and expressive. The flowers nestled next to the bone, the stitched leaves…Wow. Thanks Joy!
Thanks so much. I have had a hard time in my life with images of skulls and the art of the macabre, especially after my brother died. But I like the way Mexico and other South American countries celebrate the Day of the Dead. My son is in Mexico City celebrating that right now. Some years ago I read a children’s book called Georgia’s Bones by Jen Bryant on Georgia O’Keefe, and it helped me see the beauty of bones. Here’s and excerpt:
Georgia’s Bones by Jen Bryant
Excerpt:
In the desert, she picked up the bones
of animals – of cows and horses, pigs and sheep –
put them in a sack and took them home.
She cleaned them one by one, then held them up to the sun.
They gleamed with a white light, pure and bright,
like the sliver of moon
that crept over the mountains at night
and hung there, a perfect curve, like a rib,
over the sleeping desert.
She didn’t know why they pleased her so.
Perhaps it was the quiet way
they did their work – the years of being invisible,
and then, when everything fell away,
they appeared, pure and beautiful.
Sometimes she would look at her own hand
and imagine the bones inside
doing their important work –
holding everything together.
youI like that! Having lived with arthritis so many of my years I’ve thought a lot about bones and their beauty. So much respect and appreciation for their work. But before now I haven’t seen the kind of beauty expressed in this painting. Thanks for sharing the words as well as the visual!
❤️