Lady with Pet Ant

One day the image with Sadness as a tiny ant pet came to my mind. And so this little series appeared. It is much loved and it brought me a lot of healing. I paint one when I need to normalize my Sadness, to bring it to life to live with me. Because if I keep it hidden, it kills me from the inside. It takes my breath and my sleep and it robs me of my life. Feelings need to be lived in open space. Even those that we were thought to avoid.  It really is ok to live your life with a tiny Sadness by your side. We all have it. We all have our tiny secret losses: loss of health, of dreams, careers, of our country, or dear ones. Loss is loss, and it leaves behind a little souvenir: a tiny sadness. 

So I painted these illustration to tell myself and to tell you that it is ok to have a tiny pet ant named Sadness. Life is still pink and rosy and we can very much still enjoy it and call ourselves Happy (I know! The paradox!). It just shows we are humans. That is all.