House of Spirits, painting about death, art featuring butterflies, Isabel Allende book title image, art with death shroud, painting of a house, country scene art, art meaning dying, painting about transformation, art with field. clouds and sky, soulful uplifting inspirational art, soul stirring illusion art, romantic art,  surrealism, surreal art, dreamlike imagery, fanciful art, fantasy art, dreamscape visual, metaphysical art, spiritual painting, metaphysical painting, spiritual art, whimsical art, whimsy art, dream art, fantastic realism art, magic realism oil painting by Paul Bond

Inspired by my interest in how we as humans conduct ourselves at the end of life, and how our inevitable deaths inform how we live. I spent several years working as a volunteer for Hospice, where I was privileged to spend the last weeks and months of many people’s lives with them. I was following the advice of Khalil Gibran, who shared, “You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?” The house in this scene represents the physical body, the temporary home of our spirit. The candle within it is our spark, our heart of life. The floating fabric, in the form of a cloak or shroud, represents our spirit leaving the body as it moves towards the greater sun of our spiritual nature, that greater part of us that never leaves spirit and to which we all return at the time of transition. And the butterflies symbolize that there is no ending, simply a transformational continuity. This then can be interpreted as our final, higher-dimensional disappearing act.

House of Spirits

18 x 24 - Oil on Canvas - Sold, Private Collection