Tribute

On the morning of New Year’s Eve day, another old friend of mine died, the second in a week. It wasn’t unexpected but it still hurts. It feels like learning to be old is a combination of coming to terms with the physical pains of age and the emotional pains of losing friends. (Or at least it should be, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

This friend had taken up learning to make art in the last five years. She started with colored pencils and then mostly migrated to watercolors. A couple of years ago she moved onto a boat and was able to paint plain air waterscapes from the fly bridge. She gifted me with one of her landscapes but we never got the chance to just hang out making art together.

I spent much of the day thinking about her and her husband and our friendship. And then I realized I wanted to draw her portrait. I dug through photos and found one that showed the joy on her face. I’m not a good enough watercolorist to do her justice, so instead I did a pencil drawing. It’s not a perfect likeness, but I do think it captures some of her joy. And in the spirit of getting out of my comfort zone, I’ve started an acrylic version. It may not come out well enough to share with anyone, but the act of drawing or painting something I care about fixes the feelings in a strange but beautiful way.