In 2019 my grandfather passed. My grandfather who we all called “Andaddy” had been on dialysis for nearly a decade prior to his passing. In his final year with us, I grew very close to him as I knew his time was precious. A few short days before he left us my father and me, who often visited him on Sunday afternoons, brought him a bouquet of burnt orange roses. The image depicted here reminds me of some of his most favorite things. I chose a picture that my grandmother had taken of him at the beach, his favorite place to visit. The orange and blue background represents the colors I felt summed him up best and make me reminiscent of that bouquet of roses. I gifted the portrait to my own father for his birthday.

Pearl was my twice great grandmother. My grandfather was Pearl’s grandson. My grandfather speaks of Pearl with great fondness as she was a huge mentor in his life. I have always thought of my grandfather in the same loving light he does his own grandmother. I gifted this portrait of Pearl to my “Pawpawl” for his birthday.

I have always loved the comedy sitcom Friends. The piece above reminds me of an episode where the title characters look back at old photos and find pictures of their grandmother’s friend group, entitled what I call my own image. I took this picture with my friends at a small coffee and frozen yogurt shop in my hometown, on a random summer night. I value this friend group tremendously as we have been together since early in our childhood. This is the sort of image I would hope my grandkids would look back on in observation of my life one day.