In the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, a great spiritual teacher passed away. I felt the loss personally and so did millions of others. I was quickly consumed the urgent need to put language to the feeling of this monumental loss through art. But for the first time, I felt that a static illustration was not enough. I wanted to create an animated video.

I came across this beautiful poem by Maya Angelou called, When Great Trees Fall. The words struck deep and I was inspired to create an animated video of this poem. It came together quickly with the help of Jahnavi Harrison and her beautiful narration.

I genuinely hope this video may act as a healing balm to those who were grieving, and in a small way, may be able to honor His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami; a special soul who touched the lives of so many with his exemplary life of devotion.

I used my iPad and Procreate to draw and record these images and then edited the visuals on Adobe Premier.