Coral Dawn Bernal

When I originally painted this portrait of Coral Dawn Bernal during a weekend painting session in Taos back in 2014, I never imagined the journey it would take. The original was painted from life on a small board, capturing a clumsy snippet of Coral’s calm strength, gentle spirit, and personality. Tragically, that original painting was lost to a sudden overnight micro rainstorm; by morning, it was nothing but mush, a not-so-great moment for any artist.

All that remained was a photograph, shared briefly on social media, where Coral’s brother had seen it. Recently, when I encountered her brother again, I learned of Coral’s passing. He asked about that lost painting, the one that had resonated with him from years ago, and I was at a loss for words.

Falling across an old image and inspired by Coral’s brother looking for image of her, I recreated this oil painting on canvas as faithfully as I could from the photo. At 12″x12″, I chose to keep it colorful—and bypass some of the original dark colors of the image. Focused on bringing a bit of that coral red/pink to the image.

Now, with her brother opening a cafe, gift shop, and community space in Taos named partially in Coral’s memory, am planning on getting this to him as soon as I can. It may mean a 3D printed frame. Just to get it done.