All are remembered … those gone and left behind.
Those words are written on the back of a meaningful artpiece created by Cochrane artist Heidi Smyth to honour and support parents who have unexpectedly lost a child.
“It’s just what was overwhelming me when I was painting,” said Smyth, owner of Smyth Art & Studio on First Street. “What I felt was almost like heaven’s presentness to both the survivor and the one that is lost – just the feeling that’s held on both sides of the realm … They’re really loved and they’re seen in their pain.
“There were a lot of tears that came with the process.”
The painting itself is a colourful explosion of emotion that depicts an adult reaching up into the sky and a little child, adorned with wings, looking down. Smyth created the piece as part of her fundraising efforts for the Hazel’s Heroes charity.
“As soon as I saw it, I was blown away by its beauty and the emotions that it brought forth for me,” said Gillian Hatto, the founder of Hazel’s Heroes.
Hatto established the organization after suffering the sudden loss of her three-month-old daughter Hazel Rose on a summer night in 2014. The group is dedicated to creating a community of support for families looking for a place to work through their grief.
“There are so many families that have lost a child … it’s just staggering,” said Hatto. “There’s support in the immediate, and then it’s different to find the support afterward. For them to have the opportunity to come together … there’s something really powerful in that.”
Last weekend, Smith’s original Hazel’s Heroes-inspired piece of art and eight of 10 prints were sold at a gallery opening of her work at The Gentry Espresso & Wine Bar. The rest of the artist’s collection will hang on the restaurant’s walls for a month, with 20 per cent of those proceeds also going to the cause.
Hatto said all the money raised will go toward helping fund the inaugural Hazel’s Heroes retreat, taking place in Kananaskis this May.
The healing weekend – the first of its kind – will bring together about 20 grieving parents from across the province to share and work through their pain.
Hazel’s Heroes is hoping to raise enough money to offset some or all of the cost for those who participate.
Hatto has also asked Smyth to lead a painting workshop during the retreat.
“I know that art therapy can be quite healing. I wanted to give an opportunity for parents to express some emotions and express some of their pain and their feelings through art,” Hatto said. “I needed to find someone who would be really compassionate and reflective and understanding. When I met Heidi, I just knew that she would be that person.”
Smyth previous life as a paramedic for 15 years gives her a perspective on life, loss and grief that other artists may not connect with as naturally, Hatto added.
“The background that she has – she was drawn into that field for a reason,” she said. “In the end, it’s because she’s just that type of person.”
“For me, it’s very humbling to be invited,” Smyth said. “This is a group of people who I can’t say, ‘I’ve been there,’ but stepping into the creative space is transformative in itself.
“That’s what moves me.”
