Nestled between two wings of the Adventist Health Ukiah Valley hospital complex, a natural refuge is taking shape. It is a place of rest between work shifts and a quiet setting for remembering those who have passed on.
The curving walkway leads past stone-lined water features and beautiful plantings to a bench for contemplation. It is a Memorial Garden, originally inspired by hospital staff experience caring for patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of this sanctuary I was asked to create a mural on the long south-facing wall.
The painting is a natural tapestry, moving from an oak tree with the golden colors of autumn, through a stand of majestic redwoods, to a forest lit by shafts of light. The largest zone of light carries your gaze down a pathway of brightness.
Foliage on either side parts as the light rises upward, representing the passage at the end of life. There is one small point where the branches on both sides remain connected, indicating a last breath before the spirit leaves the body.
This painted natural world represents life. Inspired by the structure of the wall itself which has a horizontal crevice running its length, I painted a decorative frame around the scene, illustrating how life is framed by birth and death.
Above the frame I treated the color of the building as cloud cover, painting blue sky breaking through with illuminated edges. This represents the essence of a person continuing beyond that frame of birth and death, whether in heaven or in the memory of loved ones, as pure spirit or in the universal dance of molecules.
The forest imagery contains little treasures: one four-leaf clover amongst the regular three-leafed wood sorrel growing at the foot of the redwoods, one heart shape in a patch of moss on stone (which is a painted version of the large rock just across the path.)
And an actual water spigot emerges from the painted creek flowing amongst the redwood roots.
The golden oak invokes ”tree of life” symbolism common to many mythological and religious traditions. The majestic redwoods as well, and the twisting manzanitas, all connect heaven and earth.
The decorative nature of the imagery and the strong but also gentle and subtle colors are meant to inspire contemplation, perhaps to give comfort and cheer. Typically, painted imagery is not enhanced by dappled light from surrounding trees, but here it works.
Wind chimes hidden in the canopy complete the sense of meditation and appreciation for this life we have been given. Life which also must inevitably end, something faced with care and compassion here at the hospital.