Mom Self Portrait.
Painted with Love.
2023 was a rough year. In June, I got a call from my family that my 90-year-old mom had covid and as she was recovering she had a stroke.
Almost overnight, I was in hot sticky Bangkok running between family meetings and mom’s bedside looking for a solution. As the weeks passed it was clear a positive solution was not going to happen and mom was going to remain in her condition for some time to come.
After a long month in Bangkok and knowing my mom was in good hands with my sisters, I decided to come back home to sunny and cool California.
The whole ordeal was a bit much and after being laid off from my job earlier in the year I was struggling inside. So I decided to paint. I don’t know where it came from and I’m not a regular painter this was the second portrait I have ever painted. I had taken a sketching class a couple of years prior so I started by sketching a favorite photo of my mom onto canvas, then just started painting.
For almost two months I painted and cried thinking of my mom sitting back in that bed. It was an emotional dump that needed to happen and it peaked when I saw my reflection in her glasses when painting it in.
Just as I was finishing up the painting my phone rang again. It was once again time to get back on the plane for that 20+ hour trip across the world, but this time I would be bringing my painting with me.
I somehow made it in time for my mom to open her eyes one last time and see the beautiful painting of her in better times. The painting that summarized our lives together and my deep love for her always being there.
The painting hung at the foot of her bed for another 3 days until she passed away.
We used that portrait for all the ceremonial events and it is now shared amongst the family to remind us of our beautiful mom in happy times.
