January 2026

Art From the Ashes

By Karen Bagnard
Posted: 08/07/2025

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.