Once upon a time, when my work in Taos was only just beginning, I was taken under the wing of a friend of a friend. We’d ‘met’ in the way we often do in this day and age, across the firing synapses of the online world, the algorithmic miracle of connection with like souls taking hold. We soon realized that while we lived hundreds of miles apart, and we had never met in person, we had so many similarities in interests that of course we had friends in common whom we had met in the real world and that of course, we were destined to be actual friends.
CC Peyton and her husband Ron have become real friends over the years. Living just north of Albuquerque, on my way from the airport up to Taos (and sometimes back again) for my workshops, their home became a portal of a kind to me. A place to land after the taxing journey, to acclimatize to the thin air and blistering sunshine. A place to recalibrate, find my center (and usually a cup of tea and a home cooked meal) before heading onward up into the hills of New Mexico.
This week, the shape of that portal changed forever when, after a long and courageous journey through the flames of illness, CC passed away peacefully with dear Ron at her side.
CC was the epitome of an artistic polymath. She practiced many forms of art-making in her light-filled studio, sharing much of what she made online with her vast array of friends from all around the globe. Whether it was meditative mandalas, or character building through illustration techniques, CC knew how it was done and always did it beautifully. Even when she was feeling poorly, which she did daily for many years, CC was always making something. She was an artist’s artist.
Like most of the best artists I know, there was no egotistical side to CC. She believed the world was big and beautiful enough to make a place for all of what we create for one another. She was forever on hand to offer a kind word of encouragement, or to make a connection between people she knew. CC knew so much about materials and could always offer tips on how to best utilize them. She offered the art-world so much, even in her limitations.
Through the years I’ve popped in on Ron and CC many times, often dragging other artist friends and sometimes even bits of my family along with me. There have always been the most welcoming hugs from CC and the promise of rich and deep conversation. CC was the kind of person who could easily skip right over any awkward small talk and dive right into depths of everything. I loved this about her! We never knew what the subject might be, but it was always varied and meandering and interesting. I never came away from an afternoon spent in her company without feeling more knowledgable and hopeful about the world.
When I first got to know Ron and CC, they had a raven they called Broke Wing who was a regular visitor to their backyard haven. They said he somehow seemed to know when I was coming by and we’d always gotten a kick out of observing his antics during my visits. Eventually, Broke Wing wasn’t around any more and we figured maybe his time on this earth was over, though our memories of him lived on. In my imagination, I can just picture CC in the same liminal realm as Broke Wing now. There are pink hills and hummingbirds, food is abundant and tastes its best there. There is no drought, no fire-season. She can eat anything her heart desires in this realm, with no illness to block her pleasures. CC is at once in the wild winds of New Mexico, and in the salt-spray and volcanic breezes of her beloved Hawaii. There are flowers in her hair.
My heavy heart is with my dear friend Ron as he intrepidly navigates these first days and weeks without his beloved. It is difficult to imagine life with out CC really. She leaves an unbelievable void in her wake which, knowing those of us who knew and loved her, we will attempt to fill with art and love.
I can just imagine CC cheering us on.
On The Death Of The Beloved
By John O’Donohue
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
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