Words That Hold Water

May be sensitive ⚠️ 

I’ve been thinking about grief more than usual. More so this year. I think it got kickstarted by the loss of all the digital art and concepts on my iPad. Years of work just went poof💨; it emphasized the value of moments to me. I cried because I knew I could never regain them and if I wanted to recreate them, it would never be the same. I couldn’t even recall the totality of what was gone but I knew that the access I had to the art was permanently gone.

Then it got realer when on more than one occasion, people I know lost loved ones. 

Then when a friend realized the age her father would have been this year. 

Then when the memorial of my paternal grandparents came up. 

It made me realize how it never leaves. Decades later, the loss still comes at you like a wave.

Whether it’s losing someone, something, life going up in flames, world feeling upside down, or losing hope of a situation, grief is a can’t-find-the-words-to-describe-it experience. 

Words that Hold Water. (2026) Watercolor on Paper

This artwork focuses on the sympathy that follows grief.
I call it “ Words that Hold Water”.

Grief leaves you feeling hollow and the words offered in consolation can be life-giving. They are words that water the drought that grief comes with. 

They are words of presence. Words that show you are with them in this. Words that initiate healing. 

We all need “ Words that Hold Water “ in moments or seasons of grief.  

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If you’re grieving and you encounter this, I know sorry will never fix the heartbreak but I hope and I pray that one day the weight of the loss gets lifted, that the grey days become colorful and even with that mass of grief in your heart, you find beauty in your life. I pray that the loss would not consume you but that you’ll be overcome with light and love. 

💧🌊

solemnly,
gbems