Southern Gothic Cemetery Hand Painted Needlepoint Canvas

Cemeteries and graveyards are quiet, somber, haunting places to visit. Some fear entering them out of fear of ghosts, or a general aversion to the dead. This haunting needlepoint canvas is hand painted on 18 mesh with design dimensions of 4.5"x5". Perfect as a standup, this design wants you to follow the path under the arch and through the gates, to pay your respects to the long dead residents within. 

I love visiting historic cemeteries, and never pass up an opportunity to marvel at headstones and read about the lives of the people who died long before my parents or grandparents were born. Some of my favorite cemeteries to visit include Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Olde Smithville Burying Ground in Southport, Bohemian Cemetery in Chicago, Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern, and of course, the Rutherfordton City Cemetery here in Rutherfordton. 

In the Victorian Era, cemeteries were public gardens meticulously curated and adorned with ornate stone carvings, iron fences and gates, and headstones as decorative and opulent as a family could afford. One showed status and wealth by the marker upon one's grave. In modern days we struggle to grasp the cultural significance of Victorian mourning customs and rituals, and indeed in modern times we may avoid the topic of death and dying altogether. Whenever I am in a cemetery with Victorian-era headstones and grave markings, I look for the symbols and images that cover the stones, and try to discern their meaning. 

At Halloween, known elsewhere as Samhain, All Hallows Eve, or Dia de los Muertos, we remember our loved ones who have passed on before us. We are also faced with our own mortality and indeed, our own humanity. To remember death is to remember the precious waking moments of life, and treasure them all the more.