— The 95th issue of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine is dedicated to our dearly departed Billa Bozem. She was a dear friend and was cherished by the artists in our AWAKE group. As a small testimony, I wanted to post here the “Letter” I wrote, rather than leave it tucked away in the magazine only . . .

We recently lost our beloved Billa Bozem.

Billa was the featured artist in Issue #9 of Living the Photo Artistic Life and with Issue #95 becomes the first of our artists to ever be featured a second time.

The outpouring of sadness and the way news of her passing swept through our community only underscores how important of a figure she was to so many of us.

Every single piece of art Billa Bozem posted to the group over the years elicited a flood of praise. Every tutorial I was ever fortunate enough to record showcasing one of Billa’s compositions instantly became a favorite in AWAKE and within the KAIZEN Group.

Billa was also a tremendous source of encouragement within AWAKE, cheering artists on, inspiring everyone to push their talents further, and building friendships all around the world.

For all her extraordinary skill as an artist, Billa of course began where everyone else began. But through her dedication, hard work, and a truly prolific creative pace, Billa Bozem rapidly became one of our earliest sensations, popular both within our group and throughout the digital art community as a whole, celebrated in international magazines (our own as well as Somerset Digital Studio), and showcased in galleries in Germany and America.

Billa joined our community in 2015 — on her birthday. “My husband gave me the Photoshop Artistry and AWAKE courses as a present,” she told me, “one of the most precious I ever received …” And last year, even as her health was beginning to trouble her, she reminded me of this when she wrote, “My birthday always is the anniversary of my AWAKE beginnings … xo”

Since her passing, Billa has been described to me again and again as an inspiration and as an angel.

All around the world, artists will continue to be inspired by Billa’s artwork. But we who knew her, we who cherished her . . . we will remember her not only as an artist, but as a dear friend, as an unforgettable andirreplaceable member of our family.

Indeed, the last message I received from Billa was this: “It means so much to have so many of the artists sending me love from afar. That is what a fine family does . . . Much love back to everybody.”

She followed this with three heart icons.

So really, her very last words to me . . . were of love, love, love . . .

I loved Billa Bozem. So many of us did. And we will go on loving her, because here in AWAKE she will never be very far from our thoughts and our hearts.

We will miss her terribly and remember her always.

~ Sebastian

PS: You may see the Special Tribute Edition (which includes many of Billa Bozem’s final compositions) by clicking here . . .

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