I’m often asked why I paint angels.  I’ve always painted as a hobby and for family and friends.  My mom was an amazing artist who could take a blank canvas and bring it to life with her brushes.  I never had that vision…to see what was supposed to go on that canvas.  My art back then wasn’t a part of my soul.  It was something I enjoyed doing.

I even majored in art in college but found it unfulfilling.  We were told what was good art and all the important names, but it didn’t grab me. 

All that changed in November 2005 when our Mom was suddenly killed.  My earth shattered beyond belief.  Never had I experienced such pain.  I know for a fact that only God and the Angels saw me through that grief.  It was because of the angels that I could walk or breath or care for my children.  I survived the day to day tasks of being a Mom and turned to my brushes for comfort.

On the trip home from South Louisiana after burying mom, I got hubby to stop for a canvas and brushes.  I had to paint the stories that my grandfather told of Mom as a little girl.  Only painting eased my mind.  There was so much ugliness in her death and an investigation of a year and a half.  There were images in my head that I never wanted to see.  Sleep was rare, especially in the beginning, but after that first angel one night, I looked forward to dreaming.

I saw her one night, there at the foot of my bed.  She was radiating light and holding a little baby.  She never spoke but left me speechless and feeling an overwhelming love.  I went to my computer and painted her with my paint program.  I had to get her like I saw her…and I was still up at dawn with her.  She was my first angel of hundreds now and will always be very special to me.

Other angels have visited and so many just seem to appear as I’m painting.  I believe I am supposed to paint these angels.