Hello February

 The start to the new year has been challenging. I found out a couple of weeks ago that my dear friend Matt French passed. I met Matt through Luis martin's CollageDream group.  That is how I met him. Matt had health challenges- he was only 55 and had 3 or more strokes in the past- had to have one of his arms amputated and a surgery caused him to be mute.  Despite all that this man had such a wonderful attitude and was so loving. He was also a terrific artist-  I have not cried this much in a long time- his art is all over my studio. I can not believe how intense my heartache is. I am afraid this is the start- we are of the age. Matt and I bonded deep quickly- we did several collaborations together. Some I have posted here in this blog and I also posted them on my instagram, terrygarrett763.

I went to my journal for comfort and to remember Matt French. This is in a journal I made with foldouts here and there- this one is 22 inches long. On the left is a self portrait painting Matt did. This has Matt's and my personal iconagraphical imagery. Matt listed his to me when we did our last collaboration. They included: pears, apples, butterflies, roses, keys, bees and skulls. Mine you have seen- chairs, houses, clocks, windows and birds. They have special meaning-they are our personal vocabulary. My heart still aches but I felt so close to you Matt- doing this spread- You are forever in my heart.