This painting was a very emotional expression of my love for my sister Jephrey. It is my spiritual understanding of her passing. The roots which form her hair symbolize that the experiences of her life have become the root which 

grew the hybiscus plant.  The flowers are a symbol for her transformation as she rises 

from her beloved

San Francisco to be part of the Afterlife.

The painting was done on a thick wood panel, which led me to use the wood grain to emphasize a sense of rising motion. All of us eventually must lose a person dear to us, I take comfort believing as I do that she is in a Holy Place, close to God.