Carefree Artist: Expressions of Grief: The Universe's Plans

3/27/22

Expressions of Grief: The Universe's Plans

Late the other night I stepped out into the desert night, stared up and took a deep breath as tears ran down my face. I looked into the darkness and tried to think about the last time my wife and I stargazed before her cancer diagnosis. Then I started thinking about an incredibly stupid and insensitive comment that was directed my way about “how the universe has plans.”

What about my wife's plans? Plans to continue to teach, to be with her daughter, to travel and to create more books with me. Plans for all the moments big, small, and ordinary. Plans to love and be loved. Plans to live a full life.

You are telling me that my beautiful and sweet wife was singled out in all the vastness that is the universe so she could suffer and die in my arms from a horrible disease like cancer because the “universe has plans?”

If that is the case, the universe is a dark place indeed.

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The Carefree Artist is about my artistic endeavors and adventures as a professional freelance creative. Posts might feature a cartoon, or a recently published illustration from a book or magazine assignment, or an original piece of art that I might be selling to try and raise funds for my art supply donation project. All with an emphasis on originality.

Why did I name this journal the Carefree Artist*? Actually, it’s really just a wishful sentiment. A professional life in the arts, mine included, is usually anything but carefree. But oh, how wonderful it would be to really be a carefree artist! Living the simple life in a quiet and inspiring location and creating a ton of art just for art's sake!

The name was also inspired by the Carefree Highway. A road that played an important role in my life... More about this journal's name at the bottom of this page.

Please see my website, MARKiX.net, for more info and more samples of my work.

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A Note from the Artist...

As you look around this blog you can’t help but notice a distinct change in the artwork and the tone of the content over the past few years. There’s a good reason for this -- being a cancer caregiver and then the death of my wife due to hereditary cancer. A cancer that was preventable.

I never wanted this blog to be a place where I unloaded anger and sadness because of cancer and grief. I had other plans, more lighthearted and whimsical. But when you have the love of your life take their last breath in your arms because vital genetic info was not shared, it changes everything.

So, I have chosen to use my humble little corner of the world to speak up about hereditary cancer awareness and the unbearable heartache of the untimely loss of a loved one.


	Art, Desert Beginnings, and Someday


	Delicate Sounds of Nature


	First (and Last) Contact


	Drawing Science


	Award-winning Junior Ranger Book


	La Fiesta, NOT Tijuana


	Depressed Post-Impressionist Not Impressed


	A Bad Head Day


	Meet Dusty Pack

3/27/22

Expressions of Grief: The Universe's Plans

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And no, I do not live in Carefree, Arizona. I live in Phoenix. Land values in Carefree are, unfortunately, not particularly friendly for those pursuing freelance artistic endeavors.