Storytime: A Widower, 19th-Century Frames and the Universe in a Painting

This story begins with a girl working at a gallery in a small town on the south coast (me). An old man and widower came in off the street, beelined for me, ignoring the art on the walls, and inquired,

"Do you acquire frames here?"

Initially, I thought to dismiss him, (clearly this is a gallery, not an antique store!) but there was an interior nudge of empathy that came over me, to be a little extra gentle and actually give him the time of day.

So, I asked further questions.

"Sorry sir, we don't take on frames, but why are you asking?"

He proceeded to explain to me that his wife had recently died, and he was clearing out his home. They had collected antique gilded frames, still in very good condition, with minor dents attributed to the nineteenth century Britian.

His desire was for them not to be wasted, but to find an artist who would paint something worthy of them. This was an instant light-bulb moment.

As a spiritual person who very much believes in synchronicities, I had long been dreaming of painting my idea, 'First Breath, Last Breath', into a royal frame from the moment I first began sketching it.

And here it was...the divine at work, bringing me the very frame I had been wishing for.

I know what you're thinking!

(Typical gypsy woo-woo artist thinking that this was not a coincidence at all)

So I changed my tone and said to the old man,

"Well, this gallery won't buy them off you, but I will they will be perfect for an idea I have!"

He very kindly delivered the frames to me with his son, and I promised to paint something special. I told my mum how precious the frames were, and how nervous I felt, because I did not feel ready to paint this idea.

I questioned whether I had the skill, or whether I needed a few more years to practise before attempting it, but she encouraged me, saying,

"You will paint into them."

In other words, I would grow into the big shoes...or the big canvas the universe had given me.

After taking the frames to a framer to have custom canvases made to fit them, I was asked,

"So what are you going to paint?"

That was a loaded question because the image in my mind encapsulated so much.

I wanted to depict the energy that goes through everything, life itself,

so my response was:

"THE UNIVERSE!''

(But, as if one picture could really do this justice)

Now I had to follow through with the cosmic vision.

So, I started painting and painting and painting...

I was very much an art hermit throughout the winter of 2025 until summer.

As you can see in the progress pictures, the sketch turned into the under-sketch, which turned into the underpainting, which turned into the magic of seeing it come to life over nine months in my studio, to finally be exhibited in that glorious frame for my exhibition.

Progress pictures of 'First Breath, Last Breath' 2025-2026

When I finally finished it, I was so relieved. The baby taking its first breath as an old man releasing his final one, both animated by a cosmic force that appears to sustain even the life cycle of stars.

The composition forms a butterfly-like supernova in space, mirroring the delicate symmetry and anatomy of human lungs.

It stood before me in my studio, and I almost couldn't believe my hands had been able to bring into being what had once existed only in my mind.

Obviously, like every artist, I still wished I could have rendered it to a whole other level, but I had to allow the work to be finished at the level I could offer at that point in my artistic practice and skill level.

'First Breath, Last Breath' visually describes human life as the summation of a single, finite breath, mysteriously divine and conscious. It invites contemplation of origin and source; how breath begins, where life-force goes, and how the patterns and phases of life, death, and renewal in the universe echo within us all.

Antique frames that had been in storage for years, quietly waiting for their moment, until they found themselves back in the world again, for my first very special large-scale sacred art oil painting.

So that is the lovely, little story behind this work; A Widower, 19th-Century Frames, and the Universe in a Painting.

Grace xx