Funny February

In my second year of teaching at a middle/high school, I experienced much loss. First, was the loss of my dog, followed by the loss of a 15-year-old student. I was going through my master’s program in art education when I received the phone call on a Saturday morning that my student had passed away. Something inside of me broke. No one prepares you, in college, for what to do when a student dies. No one tells you how it will feel to see their art again while you will never see their face. From November on through the holidays and into the darkest parts of winter were darker while dealing with grief. I dealt with their deaths the way I knew how, through making.

In January, I decided to complete a challenge of art-making each day. In February, I decided to continue the daily practice with my own idea. I used my social media to advertise and ask for silly photos of pets from my community of followers. The response was excellent. I painted a different funny pet each day. The only goal was to make people smile and connect through art. Art is connection.

As of writing this right now (March 2025) I have completed three years of Funny February! Because of the leap year in 2024, that means I have painted 85 9x12 acrylic paintings combined through this project. I look forward to many more years of connection and laughter through art.