Saying Goodbye...

When I was small...even up to the time I was eleven or twelve, I loved unicorns and believed they were real. Or, more accurately, I should say as I got older, I wanted to believe they were real.

I feel kind of silly admitting this now, but when I was younger, I was certain that if I woke up at the time of day when night was becoming morning, and the stars were fading as the sky grew pink, if I listened carefully, and would be near a quiet part of the creek near my home, I would see a unicorn.

Because of this, unicorns have always symbolised yong/preteen childhood to me. I realised a couple of days ago, while having a conversation with my sister, that I had left that part of my childhood behind. It made me kind of sad.

I wanted to draw this as a farewell to that part of my life...a girl who's become a young woman, saying goodbye to a unicorn as it fades away, into the realms of her imagination. It may come back in stories that she creates, but it will never again be real enough for her to ride home from school, or to hug when lonely and frightened, or to feed frozen starlight and moonbeams.

If the girl looks familiar, it's because I combined an older drawing I did of an oc (Jen Clayton) with this new sketch...however, Jen could also be me. She looks a lot like me, and is very much me...so is this girl me? Perhaps.

all artwork (c) me