Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer
Helpful Village logo
Add me to your mailing list
Youtube channel Instagram page Facebook page
Header image for Pasadena Village showing nearby mountains and the logo of the Pasadena Village
Villager Log-in
Donate

Blog archive

September 2026

August 2026

Triumph Over Tragedy
08/31/2026

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained/Lost
08/30/2026

A Gallery of Neighbors: The Village Art Group’s Group Show
08/28/2026

A New and Improved Way to Stay Safer Online
08/28/2026

A Trip to The Geffen Galleries
08/28/2026

Barrier Free Living - A Path to Living a More Independent Lifestyle
08/28/2026

Conversations with Art
08/28/2026

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
08/28/2026

Member Connections with Music Conductor Bill Bing
08/28/2026

Pasadena Heritage Walking Tour
08/28/2026

In Their Hands
08/23/2026

Ease of Being: Managing the stuff of everyday life
08/20/2026

A Tribute to Fire Debris Remediators and Their Super-Sized Dump Trucks
08/18/2026

Really Irene?
08/15/2026

There Is A Risk
08/09/2026

2026 Year in Review
08/03/2026

A Message From Your Newly Elected President
08/03/2026

Neighborhoods Within the Village
08/03/2026

Reflection from PUSD Intern Isabella "Izzy" Roberts
08/03/2026

Reflection on Service & Joy from 2025/26 President Dick Myers
08/03/2026

The Villager Engagement Team Welcomed 54 New Villagers
08/03/2026

Treasurer’s Report
08/03/2026

What Activity! The Cultural Activities Team Report
08/03/2026

An Even Exchange
08/01/2026

July 2026

June 2026

May 2026

April 2026

March 2026

February 2026

January 2026

Art From the Ashes

By Karen Bagnard
Posted: 08/07/2025
Tags: Kären Bagnard, la fires

Remembering the moon on the last night I saw my home, coming to terms with the reality of the fire and all that I lost and realizing that life is still wonderful and there is much to feel joyful about.

 I created an image of the night of the fire.  It is titled, “Wolf Moon Sitting Shiva.”  It measures 36” square.  Is created with decoupage on canvas with touches of paint.  The moon was seven days from the first full moon of the new year, the “Wolf Moon.”  It was the night my house “died.”  The moon light was so beautiful and I took one last long look at my beautiful home, realizing I might never see it again.  I was very much aware of the moon… as though it was sitting shiva with me.   

My art seems to be spilling out of me.  I’m using decoupage to create images of kintsugi and the night of the fire.  Moons are depicted in many of my images.  I like the feel of the glue and the paper.  I’m finding ways to create texture and dimensions on canvas.  I’m no longer worried about how “accurate” I am.  I’m fueled by my feelings.  This is the freest I have felt in my life.

 Fires can burn a lot but they do not burn memories or a lifetime of experiences.  Every house I ever lived in, from my childhood home to two different homes in Altadena that I rented, one as a married woman and one as a single mother, as well as the one I lived in for the past 51 years, are all burned.  The homes of relatives and friends in Altadena are gone.  That’s a lifetime of places incinerated.  The memories from those places are intact.  More than ever, I am grateful that I took that one last look at my beautiful home in the moonlight.  It will live with me forever.

Blogs Topics Posts about this Topic