Healing Hearts Thru Art - The Mission

I am a mother who has had the utter heartbreak of witnessing the death of my adult child. My son Anthony died by suicide on January 2, 2023, at the age of 29. That unthinkable day forever split my life into “before” and “after.” I miss him every minute of my life. As a bereaved parent will know, this is an understatement.

But Anthony’s life, his love, and even his death, are part of why I return to this ministry. Years before, I had already known the grief of losing my first baby as a stillborn, and I had begun painting portraits for other bereaved parents as a way of offering comfort. Between 2018 and 2020, I created about 100 free memorial portraits — each one a prayer in paint, a testimony that their child’s life mattered and always will.

After my beloved Anthony died, I couldn’t touch the project. My grief was too consuming and too raw. But slowly, through prayer, art, and listening to the quiet voice of God, I felt Anthony urging me on. He is part of this work now, too.

My story is one of love and loss, but also of choosing to turn grief into compassion. When I paint your child’s portrait, I do it as a fellow parent who knows the ache of absence, and as a mother who believes that love never dies. Healing Hearts Thru Art is not just a ministry — it is a lifeline, for me and for those I serve.

 

My History

Healing Hearts Thru Art began as a calling placed on my heart years ago. In 2017, during a routine day, and several years after losing my husband, I remembered something he once told me: “Find a way to help others with your art — that’s your ministry.” Having lost my own first baby boy to a still birth many years ago, I always carried a deep compassion for grieving parents.

In 2018, I started painting free portraits of children who had died, creating about 100 memorials for families around the world. Each portrait was a gift, sent with love, and families who wished to help other bereaved parents could “pay it forward” with donations to help the work continue. When the pandemic came, the project paused.

Then, in 2023, my world shattered again when my beloved son, Anthony, died very suddenly at age 29. His loss changed everything. For a long time, I was frozen in grief, unable to imagine returning to this ministry. But in 2025, after a near-death experience and a moment of prayer and clarity, I felt called once again to continue.

Healing Hearts Thru Art is now carried forward in Anthony’s memory. Every portrait is a way to honor not only your beloved child, but also mine — a shared circle of remembrance, healing, and love.

Portrait Gallery