Reflection, Jill

The Glass Baby
by Jill

I wake one morning
Aware of molten glass
Pouring into me.
It burns and the pain makes me cry.
But my tears don't cool the fire
So I grit my teeth and reach down.
I pull and push until a shape is formed -
A tiny glass child.
I look at my hands, burnt and bloodstained,
And I fold them over my belly
To protect the fragile life within.
IT ISN'T ENOUGH.
Until suddenly, my little glass boy floats.
I look inside and see his sister.
She is rocking him and crying tears of joy.
Her tears surround him in a warm, wet bath.
He floats, protected and happy,
My tiny man.
Her tears reflect in the glass of his limbs
And Rainbows burst from my womb.
Her tears, my broken hands, his rainbow
Surround him on our journey
'Til he bursts forth in a gush of her tears and my blood.
I recognise his newborn cry
As a call of goodbye to his womb mate
His newborn limbs flailing a wave
To his loving sister,
Who smiles and kisses his head,
Before wrapping herself in our rainbows
And tucking herself back into my heart.

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about the piece.

"I've been reading through all the posts from the "Where are we right now?" project and it has lead me to reflect on my own relationship with my daughter and my grief. I have felt distant from all things babylost recently and it has been valuable for me to re-connect. I was drawn back to these two pieces, both created in the first year of my grief, to remind me that I carry my daughter and her loss with me always, in all situations - not matter how far down the path I travel." -Jill

about the artist.Jill's third child (her second daughter), Emma, died during labour at 40 weeks on 14th October 2008. She blogs about her beautiful girl and her journey without her at Only a Whisper.

Broken Heart, Krista

Broken Heart.
Krista.
Colored Pencil and Poetry.


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about the work.
I did the drawing and wrote the poem the same day but had no idea they went together until I put them in the computer. -Krista

about the artist.
I'm 27 years old and I've had three healthy, full term pregnancies followed by three miscarriages. First at 12wks (blighted ovum), second at 16wks4ds (Benjamin), and the most recent at 21wks (Kadence). I also had a chemical pregnancy the first cycle after my first loss and the first cycle after my last loss, both were devastating. Since my last loss I have been using art as a way of getting my grief out and have really appreciated this site and seeing other women's work.--Krista

Eye, Krista

Eye.
Krista.
Charcoal.


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about the artist.
I'm 27 years old and I've had three healthy, full term pregnancies followed by three miscarriages. First at 12wks (blighted ovum), second at 16wks4ds (Benjamin), and the most recent at 21wks (Kadence). I also had a chemical pregnancy the first cycle after my first loss and the first cycle after my last loss, both were devastating. Since my last loss I have been using art as a way of getting my grief out and have really appreciated this site and seeing other women's work.--Krista

Loss, Krista

Loss.
Krista.
Colored Pencil.


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about the work.
This is me with my three losses. I drew this right after my daughter died while I was waiting to birth her body. I didn't notice that I had done three tears and three drops of milk until I did the three drops of blood. I didn't draw in the largest baby (my daughter) until I birthed her body a full month later. -Krista

about the artist.
I'm 27 years old and I've had three healthy, full term pregnancies followed by three miscarriages. First at 12wks (blighted ovum), second at 16wks4ds (Benjamin), and the most recent at 21wks (Kadence). I also had a chemical pregnancy the first cycle after my first loss and the first cycle after my last loss, both were devastating. Since my last loss I have been using art as a way of getting my grief out and have really appreciated this site and seeing other women's work.--Krista

Am I Woman, Erica.

Am I Woman.
Erica.
Pencil.

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about this piece.
This picture started out as a sketch for an idea of a pottery piece I was going to build but turned into an expression of how I felt after losing Isla McKenzie on 9th September 2010. She was my 6th pregnancy and we have one living daughter who is 11 years old. We also lost Catharine Ellen in pregnancy 11th June 2005. Knowing your a woman means different things to different people but to me having lost my daughters has taken away what should be the natural thing for a woman to do. There's a sense of loss of identity. My living daughter and I find comfort in drawing, pottery and photography to help with our loss of daughter's and sisters. -Erica.

Angel, Ang.

Angel.
Part of the Angel Series.
Ang.

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about this piece.
In Ang's words, "I draw angels, as the day Andrew died I know the angels cried with me, and for some reason that brings me comfort."

about the artist.
Alter My World (screen name) aka Ang began her art journey one year after the death of her newborn son, Andrew Joseph. Her art gives her a voice, whether its her grief expression or her happy times, it gives her a sense of self and the hope of healing. Art at first became a voice of grief and sorrow, through the years it has become so much more than that. It now has periods of laughter and brightness and when she needs to, she arts about loss and grief and sadness.

Her art can be seen here.

Heart Sad, Ang.

Heart Sad.
Ang

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about the artist.
Alter My World (screen name) aka Ang began her art journey one year after the death of her newborn son, Andrew Joseph. Her art gives her a voice, whether its her grief expression or her happy times, it gives her a sense of self and the hope of healing. Art at first became a voice of grief and sorrow, through the years it has become so much more than that. It now has periods of laughter and brightness and when she needs to, she arts about loss and grief and sadness.

Her art can be seen here.

Thanksgiving, Kim

Thanksgiving.
Kim.
Oil Pastels.

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about the piece.
Kim talks about her piece, "I created this piece shortly before Thanksgiving. I was feeling cheated out of the holiday preparations that were going on all around me and longing for my daughter so that I could show her how to trace her hand and draw turkeys together. I was able to get lost in tracing my own hands over and over again, reaching for her and letting her go."

about the artist.
In 2009, Kim’s 16-month old daughter and only child, Bridget, died from complications related to a genetically inherited kidney disease. Kim participates in a local art therapy program for the bereaved and has discovered art as a way to better understand herself, make peace with her grief, and spend time with her daughter.