BEAUTY: Painting--Gabryel Harrison

Canadian painter, writer, and all-around inspiring figure Gabryel Harrison creates paintings of floral still lives that are anything but traditional. She explodes the bouquets, suspending them in a soft, rich, dark haze. Often the buds are verging on the abstract, devolving into shape and color, becoming their own essence.

Top to bottom: Desert Peonies; Earthly Delights; Elegy For The Lost; Light Comes; Pink Peonies; Sonata Of Roses

Here is her poem, "Poem On Approaching The Afterlife" which I found moving...

POEM ON APPROACHING THE AFTERLIFE

Before I fall silent, I want to say
do not turn away..
Feed them. Give to them. Be in gratitude
give to the broken and empty.
Give to your own starving heart.
For every hungry ghost, give up your life.
For years now, I have mistaken despair for caring
like many—I have been sleeping.
Wake up!
Do not hesitate because your tender heart is almost gone
we are all killing something
you have this courage
forgive yourself, and go on loving the world.
Accept your gift.
You are the one
who can stretch out your hand in the dark.

http://www.gabryel.com/