Perhaps they are not stars,
but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through
and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.
Eskimo proverb

original painting – private collection – Guadalajara, Mexico – “Bodegón del Día de Los Muertos”
• watercolor, wax, ricepaper, then quilted! • 24″H x 36″W • © Lisa Rivas

The Day of the Dead
is a holiday celebrated in many countries. It focuses on gatherings of
family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who
have died. In Mexico the celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November.
Their traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using
sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the
departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
Bertrand Russell