3 foot Hearts

Cracked, but Not Broken

in Unbound, 2022, Chantal Dangler

I was excited and intimidated to paint my first heart for Unbound.  I wanted to give the patients at Napa something that was beautiful and accessible, and a message of hope and resilience.  I hope those who see it are reminded that there is beauty in fragility and imperfection.

This heart is called "Cracked, but Not Broken." I felt such a sense of responsibility with the opportunity to paint this first heart. Up until then, I had only done paper mache, stitching, and prep painting. The heart felt so fragile to me when I brought it home to paint. I worried that I would drop it or somehow mess it up. I was reminded that hearts are fragile, so I went with that theme. I decided to "break" the heart first by drawing fine lines or cracks. This helped me relax and was very freeing because now the heart was already imperfect. My job was to hold it together with hope and make it beautiful. This state of mind actually helped me convey my message to the patients that whatever they may feel is broken or damaged can be held together and/or repaired with new growth.

Hope and Resilience

in Unbound, 2022, Chantal Dangler

I was still trying to go with a theme of resilience when I painted my second heart. At the time, my backyard was full of lizards. I was determined to paint a lizard because they are happy, scrappy little creatures. When they lose their tail, they just grow another and keep carrying on. I wanted to bring a bit of nature to the patients at Napa.

After I painted the lizard, I felt the heart needed something else. I decided to give the lizard a creature to prey on as a way to fill the space. At the time, the war in Ukraine had just started that week, and it was much on my mind. I decided to paint a dragonfly as the prey, for two reasons. One, I could make the wings match the wings on the heart. And two, while a dragonfly is much smaller than a lizard, they are also scrappy creatures. The spiritual meaning of dragonflies is hope. The spiritual meaning of lizards is resilience. The lizard will never capture the dragonfly, but they will never stop trying. Dragonflies have the power to fly and escape the lizard's reach. This was my hope for Ukraine at the time. I guess this heart could be called "Hope and Resilience."

Jim

in Unbound 2022, Karen Andersen

"I wish for you, big brother, all good things."

I painted a heart for my beloved brother, Jim, who suffered throughout his life with alcohol addiction and mental health issues.  He was a gentle giant who wanted nothing more than to love, to be loved and to live a life of simplicity and peace. Unfortunately, his mental health issues and addiction became stronger as he got older, and my brother was no longer able to go on living a life he wanted.  My brother, Jim, committed suicide in December of 2006, freeing himself of the pain and torment he had endured for far too long.  He left behind a loving mother who never gave up believing in him, a brother in-law who respected the man he was and his love of the outdoors, two young nieces who unfortunately never got to know their Uncle Jim and his playful side, and me, his younger sister who to this very day, never got over the loss of her big brother. I miss him terribly and the pain and torment I feel is immeasurable.  "What could I have done differently"  is a question that is paramount in my mind.  I honor my brother everyday with the phrase "It is never too late".  Now is the time for love and healing and forgiveness and hope. The heart I painted for my brother represents his freedom from his addiction and his mental anguish and my freedom from all those years spent suffering in silence.  Now it is time for healing.