Light After Loss - Collected

This one cuts the deepest. When my dad passed in 2017, everything in my life flipped. His loss hit me at a time when I was slipping into a world I couldn’t get out of — a dark place where I was moving fast, surviving but not really living. It forced me to face myself. To feel everything I had been avoiding. To look at the life I was building and ask if it was truly mine.

The quote tied to this chapter “Don’t stop until it’s art” carries the meaning he left with me. It’s not about the literal artwork… it’s about not quitting until you reach the thing you were born to do. Your purpose. Your calling. Your truth. I didn’t stop until it was art — his wish for me, the promise I kept.

In this piece, the younger me sketching is the girl he always believed in. The teen who dreamed big even when the world felt heavy. The tall version is the woman who finally listened — who stepped into the path he saw long before I did. And that shadow… that’s him. Quiet but present. Still guiding. Still protecting. Still lighting the way even after he was gone. Te amo siempre Pa!

13x19 - Medium: Mixed Media Illustration / Hand-Drawn Digital Art / Original Hand-Painted Character (Acrylic) / AI-Assisted Illustration / Metal / White Frame

Status: Collected