Introduction:
Some artworks begin as ideas.
This one began as fear.
It is the weight of loss, the ache of love that has crossed beyond reach, the pieces of my heart that exist in a place I cannot follow.
It is for the ones I will never hold again, for the words left unspoken, and for the quiet longing that time never fully erases.
I created Heaven's Gate while Izzie was still alive, during a time when I was quietly confronting the possibility that one day I would have to continue without her.
Rather than documenting loss after it happened, this piece became a way of sitting with the uncertainty before it arrived.
It explores the relationship between love and grief, and the invisible threads that remain after someone becomes part of who you are.
Although this work was inspired by Izzie, it has grown to represent something much larger: the people, places, and moments we continue carrying long after they have passed.
This piece is about the beauty of love.
"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
― A.A. Milne
[This one is for you, Izzie. Always.]
The Story Behind It
Izzie changed the direction of my life in ways I couldn't have understood at the time.
She arrived as a tiny, unwanted puppy from Craigslist and quietly became the center of my world.
From the moment she reached for me with those little T-rex arms, I knew she was mine, and I was hers.
Every major chapter of my adult life happened with her beside me.
She taught me patience, responsibility, consistency, and unconditional love.
Many of the values that shape my work today grew out of the years we spent together.
Now I see life through the Lens of Izzie.
She became my rose-colored glasses, the rainbow to every storm, quietly teaching me to notice beauty even when life felt impossibly heavy.
The longer I work with presence, memory, and preservation,
the more I realize this piece was never only about grief.
It's about devotion.
The kind that's built day by day, over an ordinary lifetime,
until you can no longer separate who you are from who they helped you become.
Reflection
Looking back now, I understand Heaven's Gate differently than when I created it.
At the time I believed it was preparing me for loss. Now I see that it was documenting love.
Grief is simply what remains when love no longer has a physical place to go.
Love is an invisible thread
You can’t always see it
but in the right light, it shines 🌈
The way she entered my life and the way she carried me through it, was divine blessings✨
Every artwork I've created since carries some part of that realization.
Immersive Experience
Look Closer
Every piece is created at a much higher resolution than can be displayed here.
Hidden geometry, layered textures, subtle color transitions, and countless small details only become visible when viewed up close.
Choose the viewer that matches your device and explore the artwork at full resolution.
Heaven's Gate Collection
Every finished artwork carries the history of countless invisible decisions. This collection preserves those moments.
Rather than focusing on the finished image alone, the collection documents the creative process itself and demonstrates how complex digital illustrations are built one layer at a time.
Viewed together, they offer a rare look behind the finished image. Showing not just what was created, but how it came to exist.
Work Details
Created: February 8th, 2023
Collection: Heaven's Gate
Category: Major Work
Medium: Digital Illustration • Autodesk Sketchbook • Samsung Galaxy Tab s10+ and Stylus
Dimensions: 8000x8000 pixels
Techniques: Hand-drawn fine line illustration • High-density linework • Neo-impressionism • Pointillism & stippling • Radial symmetry • Layered color segmentation • Color Theory
Primary Themes: Love • Mortality • Memory • Devotion • Grief • Spirituality • Impermanence • Connection
Primary Motif:
Related Works: The Izzie Archive, Grief’s Cage, Izzie’s Garden, Sunshine & Daisy Daydream, Honoring Betty
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
← Previous Chapter: Phoenix Fire
→ Next Chapter: Grief’s Cage
See the Bigger Picture
→ View Magnum Opus