“Healing Star Blanket” -Original

The Star Blanket is a symbol of honouring, and a sign of respect to the one who receives it, often gifted for graduations, wedding, coming of age and for the birth of a child. This Star Blanket is painted with the mellow hues, to soothe and comfort the viewer. I chose the colours reminiscent of my childhood and of the macramé wall hangings we had in our home. When I first began working on this painting series on motherhood, I could not paint, and I could not create. I was grieving the loss of a loved one to opioid addiction. It was when I decided to honour the grief that I was experiencing and to transform that energy into a painting that I came to create this Star Blanket design. This is a healing image for me. I chose it to symbolize a way of honour all the people who have been lost to opioid addiction, and to all the mothers who have lost their sons and daughters to this crisis.