Widow's Voice

Trying to Reframe February

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4 days from now it will make 5 full years since Mario made his grand exit from this life. It’s absolutely nuts to me how fast those 5 years went by.

And about February … It’s not like every February of my life has been awful, but there have been some big, awful events that just color the whole month for me …

  • When I was in my 20’s, the very first time I ever had to put a pet cat down happened on Valentine’s Day
  • In 2017 I was in car accident on 2/16
  • In 2021, Mario died on 2/10
  • In 2023 a friend died in February

I am totally one of those “glass half full” people that tries to have the perspective of seeing the good in situations, but this month just traditionally brings me down.

Of course, Mario’s “event” really stands out. Typically, I would try to get away for a couple days during that time, but this month, I won’t be able to. However, I do have a long-time friend coming up to visit the week after. So hopefully some new happy, February memories will be logged there (I’m sure there will be many).

But I was also thinking today of things that Mario and I enjoyed together and one of those things was art. As artists ourselves, we always liked to support other artists. Unfortunately I don’t know who the artists were for some of the pieces we collected together or that Mario gave me as gifts.

Today I went around the house and snapped some photos of some of those pieces and thought about the memories that each held in my attempt to reframe February in a better light.

Blue Float
Along the Oregon Coast, they do this thing where glass artists make floats then place them around beaches to find. Spoiler alert: we never did find one! However, one day when we were staying in Florence, OR, we went into a gallery that had a whole array of beautiful glass floats. They were reasonably priced, so we figured since we never found one, we’d just buy one. There were a number of them we liked, but we both liked the blue one, so that one came home with us.

a blue glass art float

Octopus Wood Block Print
There’s a local artist (Kevin Clark) who does traditional wood block prints. He and Mario did not exactly get along that great because they had different opinions on what art was, but nonetheless, Mario ended up buying a print of his for me for my birthday. Knowing I liked octopuses, that’s what he chose. Can’t remember what birthday it was now, but had to be a good 15 years ago.

octopus wood block print by kevin clark

Funky “Plate”
On another trip to the coast, we wandered into a galley away from the main “old town” area of Bandon that had a lot of local artist’s work. Mario gravitated immediately to this plate-shaped ceramic piece. I agreed it was an interesting one, so that’s what came home with us that trip.

A funky blue ceramic plate shape with holes and spirals

Art Mug
One Christmas Mario gave me this wacky art mug. Apparently he procured this one from the local arts center, from their gift shop of local artists. Always makes me laugh when I see it because it’s 100% on brand for Mario.

wacky art mug

Art Vase
The same gallery that the funky “plate” came from produced this unique vase on another trip to the coast. I was off in some other area looking at something else and spotted Mario wandering up with it in his hands. We both loved the shape and style, so it was an easy sell. The amazing part with this (and some of the other vase pieces) is that they’ve survived over the years with our cat Hathor (who still has a tendency to be a holy terror when it comes to breakable things). It now lives on a shelf on the wall, out of paw’s reach.

artistic vase with unique shape and tecture

Monster
A local artist we knew (Laurie Morris) used to create these whimsical creatures out of clay (I actually think she still does but has since moved further north). We actually traded her some art for a larger piece one year. This little guy was something Mario picked up for me as another Christmas present from the local art center gallery. Like the art vases, this one sits up on a wall shelf to ensure he remains intact.

a whimsical monster shaped out of clay

Another Art Vase
One trip to the coast, we happened to be visiting a smaller gallery in old town Florence. Somehow, Mario managed to purchase this without me seeing him do it. It was presented as a birthday present and I remembered seeing it at the gallery. It’s a small piece and also safely up on a wall shelf now.

artistic purple vase with red accent

Ocean Waves
This was actually the last gift of art that Mario gave me. Besides being a beautiful piece done by another local artist, Barb Antilla, it being the last gift will always make a bit more special. It sits somewhere were I can see it everyday.

an oil pastel of an ocean wave

More Ocean Waves
I’m including this one because it’s the first piece I bought after Mario’s departure. I only realized after the purchase that it was appropriate that the first art “gift” I bought myself was of ocean waves and the last gift Mario bought me was of ocean waves. It was a sad trip, that first trip back over to the coast without him, so buying a piece of art was a small thing that made me feel a little better. I had a chat with the gallery owner about the piece. I’m horrible with names and really should have written the gentleman’s name down but at the time, he was in his 90s and still doing ocean watercolor art.

a black and white watercolor painting of ocean waves

About Sherry Holub

I met my spouse, Mario, at UCLA School of Art in 1993. After graduating in 1995, I founded a small agency specializing in web and graphic design. Mario became my partner in the company in 1999. In 2002, we were married at the Costa Mesa, CA court house because neither of us wanted a big wedding ceremony (after already being together since 1995).

Mario was a highly talented artist, musician, illustrator and 3D Designer, but a tortured one. He was one of those gentle, creative souls who ended up burning twice as bright for half as long. Mario lost the battle with liver disease induced by alcoholism (almost exactly 6 months after he became sober) on 2/10/21.

I’m a long-time artist and writer with a background in photography who enjoys cooking, getting outdoors, staying young at heart, and sharing experiences to potentially help others. When it comes to writing, I’ve written both for fun and professionally over the years. Writing is also sometimes therapy for me and I don’t mind sharing my personal experiences with a wider audience.