Created:
April 8, 2024 - November 2, 2024
Released:
August 12, 2026
Major Work
Some pieces are finished when the last line is drawn.
Others keep asking something of you.
Introduction
This story began beneath the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, but it wasn't shaped by a single day.
Eclipse stayed with me for more than two years.
It grew slowly, layer by layer, through seasons of uncertainty, grief, unexpected kindness, and hard-earned change.
As my life fractured and rebuilt itself, the artwork did the same.
Every major turning point in my life seemed to arrive alongside another eclipse.
Only in hindsight did I recognize the pattern.
By the time it was complete, I realized I hadn't just documented a season of my life. I had documented my transformation through it.
The piece holds the weight of everything I lost and everything I found: my voice, my boundaries, and my creative sovereignty.
On the day of the total solar eclipse, I was already in emotional freefall.
I was dealing with betrayal in business relationships, watching my world feel like it was unraveling,
and trying to hold everything together while Izzie’s health was steadily declining.
This piece became a place to hold all of it.
I decided to put everything down and witness what was happening above and beyond the chaos surrounding me.
I sat down outside with Izzie, wiped my tears, and put on my sunglasses.
I watched the total solar eclipse through the reflection of my tablet screen instead of looking directly at the sun.
During the celestial event, I photographed the prismatic sun rays spreading from behind the moon.
Later, I transformed those photographs into a kaleidoscopic mandala, layering and blending them into the foundation of the piece.
The eclipse itself became the artwork's first layer.
Every additional pattern originated from that moment.
Portal One
April 8, 2024 • Solar Eclipse in Aries
The Beginning • The Call to Battle & The Wound
This was the eclipse that started Eclipse.
I was confronting broken trust, betrayal, instability, and the realization that much of what I believed was no longer solid.
I was being asked to choose what came next before I knew what that would be.
This was the fracture.
What began as one artwork quickly turned into something much larger.
I kept adding layers.
Sometimes because the piece demanded it, and sometimes because I couldn’t stop.
Every time life shifted beneath my feet, I found myself back inside the artwork.
At the time, I thought I was avoiding reality.
Looking back, I think I was surviving it.
Portal Two
September 17, 2024 • Lunar Eclipse in Pisces
Purging, Surrender & Creation as Survival
By the second eclipse, the work had become something I was using to survive what I couldn't yet resolve.
I was exhausted. Vulnerable.
Trying to let go of what I couldn't control while holding onto the things that still gave me purpose.
Art became an anchor.
Unexpected kindness and community became part of that survival, too.
This was learning to keep creating while letting go.
Like my internal landscape, it became increasingly complex.
Creating it was both a lifeline and a burden.
Eventually my arm needed to be iced after long sessions because I simply couldn't stop.
I kept going anyway.
As long as I could hold my pen, the piece kept growing.
And so did I.
Each layer gave way to the next, like falling through one sheet of glass, only to land on another.
Every impact shattered what was beneath me, leaving nowhere solid to stand.
It felt like death by a thousand cuts.
Eventually I stopped trying to catch myself.
I just wanted it to end, even if that meant my own.
But, as agonizing as it was, each glass floor softened my fall for the next.
Portal Three
October 2, 2024
Solar Eclipse in Libra • Rebalancing
Boundaries, Trust & Identity
The next eclipse brought questions about balance.
Who was I when I stopped measuring myself through other people?
What did trust look like after it had been broken?
What belonged to me, and what had I allowed other people to define?
I was beginning to understand that rebuilding myself would require boundaries as much as vulnerability.
This was learning that connection cannot require self-abandonment.
I still haven’t been able to fit the pieces back together correctly, maybe I never will.
But life doesn’t wait for you to pick up your pieces.
I realized how resilient I could be, even as my world shattered over and over again.
Portal Four
March 14, 2025
Lunar Eclipse in Virgo • The Pause
Hermitage, Grief & What Remains
By this point, I had pulled inward.
The work became quieter. So did I.
I was processing grief, identity, isolation, and the emotional weight of everything that had happened.
I stopped trying to force answers and started paying attention to what remained beneath the surface.
This was the unraveling.
While Eclipse was growing, I was unraveling.
Business relationships were collapsing.
Mentors I trusted repeatedly put their own interests over the people who believed in them.
Communities I poured thousands of hours into slowly stopped feeling like home.
Partnerships that once gave me confidence left me feeling like I couldn't trust my own judgement.
And at the same time, I was spending every moment I could with Izzie as her health continued to decline.
As my ship sank, those summer afternoons with her were like my last breath before running out of air.
I found myself caught between wanting to build a future, and wanting time to stand still.
The artwork quietly became the place where those two realities could exist together.
Portal Five
August 12, 2026
Solar Eclipse in Leo • The Reveal
The Ending That Became a Beginning
Eclipse was finally released under another total solar eclipse.
What began with fracture, betrayal, grief, and uncertainty had become something I could stand behind as my own.
Self-reliance. Rebirth. Meaning. Hope.
Eclipse marks the end of trying to exist inside someone else’s structure.
It also marks the beginning of me building my own foundation.
Not a return to who I was before.
A beginning from everything I had become.
This was choosing to step into my own light.
Look Closer
Eclipse was created at a much higher resolution than can be displayed here.
Hidden geometry, layered textures, subtle color shifts, and countless small details can only be seen when viewed up close.
By the time I finished, the work had become so dense that each layer could stand on its own.
Eclipse is not just one piece.
It is many.
Eclipse Collection - Coming Soon!
From the initial fracture, to the slow process of rebuilding, each piece represents its own chapter in this story.
Work Details
Created: April 8, 2024 - November 2nd, 2024
Released: August 12, 2026
Collection: Eclipse Collection
Category: Major Work
Medium: Digital Illustration • Autodesk Sketchbook • Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Tablet & Stylus
Dimensions: 4000 × 4000 pixels
Techniques: Hand-drawn fine line illustration • High-density linework • Layered composition • Kaleidoscopic base construction • Optical depth through color and form
Primary Themes: Transformation • Betrayal • Grief • Identity • Cycles • Self-Reliance • Rebirth
Primary Motif: Eclipse • Layers • Fractured Light • Sacred Geometry
Related Works: Starfox, Heaven’s Gate, Grief’s Cage, Genesis of Gaia, Izzie’s Garden
This piece is one chapter in a much larger story.
Discover what came before, what followed, and how this work fits into the evolution of my artistic practice.
Continue the Journey
→ Next Chapter: Coming Soon
← Previous Chapter: Honoring Betty
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→ View Magnum Opus
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