This is one of my favorite pieces. This was inspired by Repo! The Genetic Opera, but it means a lot more to me as well. Feelings of desperation and also a feeling of self control that really isn't there. Forcing myself to smile and all the while, feeling hollow inside.
This is a 6x9 mixed media page in a sketchbook that is dedicated to Halloween cats. I scan these pages and then do 4x6 prints and mail them to my mom. Usually a draw a daily cat and mail it but mom’s memory is going so sending her print postcards of the Halloween cards ensures she doesn’t lose an original. I’ll go back to the original kitties next month.
When I was a teen, my grandfather had alzheimers, a failing heart, and half of one lung. He was covered with scars and sometimes muttered at walls.
I was asked to keep an eye on him, briefly, one afternoon, while my grandmother did something else. While I was alone with him, he looked at an empty space right next to me, and whispered: "Mom? Dad? Is that you?"
With the exception of getting hit by a car, that was the most terrifying moment of my life.
