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CELEBRACIÓN DE VIDA

Chanel

A little life. A very big love.

Una vida pequeña. Un amor enorme.

Celebrate Chanel's lifeSiempre Contigo
Florencia holding Chanel, a tiny cream teacup Chihuahua in a green-and-white striped outfit, close against her face; the phone-story caption reads 'My baby girl' with a heart
Así era ella de verdadThis was really her

HER LIFE

The tiny girl who kept Bruno company

Chanel was a teacup Chihuahua, which in her case meant small enough to disappear into a folded blanket and loud enough that nobody ever lost her. She belonged to Florencia's earlier life in El Salvador, in the same chapter as Bruno, and she was his best friend.

Chanel era una chihuahua teacup, que en su caso quería decir lo bastante chiquita para perderse en una cobija doblada y lo bastante ruidosa para que nadie la perdiera nunca. Fue parte de la vida anterior de Florencia en El Salvador, en el mismo capítulo que Bruno, y era su mejor amiga.

She mattered on her own, not only as Bruno's friend. That is why she has a page.

A celebration of a life should remind people that the animal actually had one. What Chanel was really like belongs to the family, and it goes here in their words rather than ours.

  • A close head-and-shoulders portrait of Chanel, pale cream-white with an ivory face, two very large upright ears washed pink inside, big dark round eyes and a brown nose, mouth curved into a small smile; ink line and watercolour on an open background
  • Chanel drawn sitting upright and square to the viewer, pale cream-white coat, oversized upright ears lined in soft pink, large dark eyes and a small brown nose, her tail curled beside her; loose ink linework with watercolour washes on an open background
  • Chanel drawn standing in a three-quarter view, weight even on four slender legs, tail curled up over her back; cream and pale beige coat, huge upright ears, large dark eyes, drawn in ink line with warm watercolour shading
  • Chanel drawn front-on in a green-and-grey striped knit sweater over a pink collar, sitting with both front paws set neatly together; pale cream coat, enormous upright ears and large dark eyes, rendered in ink line and watercolour
  • Chanel drawn curled into a small cream-coloured spiral, asleep with her chin resting on her front paws, ears folded back and pink-lined, drawn in soft warm watercolour with fine fur linework
  • A single-stroke navy line drawing of Chanel sitting in profile with her eyes closed and her tail curled into a spiral, ears tall and pointed; minimal continuous-line style on a plain ground
Drawings, not photographs.
Florencia holding Chanel, a tiny cream teacup Chihuahua in a green-and-white striped outfit, close against her face; the phone-story caption reads 'My baby girl' with a heart
Florencia and Chanel. The caption she wrote on it said “my baby girl”.

This was really her

CHANEL AND BRUNO

Best friends

Chanel and Bruno belonged to the same house, the same country and the same years. We are not going to invent scenes we did not see — their friendship was real, and that is already the whole story.

Chanel y Bruno fueron de la misma casa, del mismo país y de los mismos años. No vamos a inventar escenas que no vimos — su amistad fue de verdad, y eso ya es toda la historia.

Florencia with Chanel, a tiny cream Chihuahua in a striped outfit, and Bruno, a brown-and-white Chihuahua, sitting together on her lap in front of a dark iron door
Chanel and Bruno, on the same lap. They were best friends, and this is the photograph of it.
Bruno sitting inside a painted floral border
A drawing of Bruno, Chanel's best friend — not a photograph of him.
  • Chanel and Bruno drawn sitting close together, Chanel small and pale cream-white on the left leaning her head into Bruno's cheek while he rests his muzzle against her; Bruno is warm tan with a white blaze, white chest and white paws, both with tall upright ears, rendered in ink line and watercolour
  • A circular navy-ringed badge holding painted head-and-shoulders portraits of Chanel and Bruno on a cream ground, Chanel pale cream-white on the left with huge upright ears, Bruno tan with a white blaze and white chest on the right, both looking off to the same side
Drawings, not photographs.

Meet Bruno — her best friend

CELEBRACIÓN DE VIDA

We remember her because she was loved.

La recordamos porque fue amada.

In the tradition this page borrows from, remembering somebody is an act of love rather than an attempt to undo grief. So this is marigolds and candlelight and warm colour, not black and grey.

En la tradición de la que esta página toma prestado, recordar a alguien es un acto de amor y no un intento de deshacer el duelo. Por eso aquí hay cempasúchil, luz de vela y color cálido, no negro y gris.

  • Chanel drawn sitting in a Salvadoran flower bed, mouth open in a wide happy smile, surrounded by tall sunflowers, orange marigolds, white daisies and cascading pink bougainvillea; pale cream-white coat, huge upright ears, large dark eyes, painted in warm watercolour
  • Chanel and Bruno drawn sitting together beneath an arch of orange marigolds, yellow sunflowers, pink bougainvillea and eucalyptus; Chanel pale cream-white on the left with tall upright ears, Bruno warm tan on the right with his white blaze and white chest, the two turned slightly toward one another
  • Chanel drawn sitting at the centre of a full ring of yellow sunflowers and green leaves, pale cream-white with huge upright ears, large dark eyes and a small smile; watercolour and ink line on an open ground

Drawings of Chanel and Bruno, not photographs of them.

Día de los Muertos is rooted in Mexican tradition. This family is Salvadoran. The marigolds and the candlelight on this page are borrowed with thanks, and the two are not the same thing.

THE THINGS THAT WERE HERS

Chanel's ofrenda

An ofrenda holds the things that belonged to a life. Nothing is placed here that nobody can vouch for.

Una ofrenda guarda las cosas que fueron de una vida. Aquí no se pone nada que nadie pueda confirmar.

Bruno sitting on a wooden floor beside an empty wooden chair, morning light coming through the curtains
A drawing of Bruno beside an empty chair. A drawing, not a photograph.

Chanel is not the only one. The family's earlier chapters hold others, and their names belong here even before their stories are written.

  • Chanel
  • Rufo
  • Mimi
  • A remembrance medallion: a cream circle ruled with thin navy rings carrying the hand-lettered words "Siempre Contigo" above a small navy paw print, set inside a watercolour ring of orange marigolds, yellow sunflowers, pink bougainvillea and green foliage. No dog is drawn in this piece; it belongs to Chanel's remembrance set
  • Chanel drawn head-on inside an open wreath of orange marigolds, yellow sunflowers and pink bougainvillea with green leaves and small cream buds; she is pale cream-white with enormous upright ears and large dark eyes, smiling gently, in soft watercolour on an open ground
  • A single-stroke navy line drawing of Chanel sitting in profile with her eyes closed and her tail curled into a spiral, ears tall and pointed; minimal continuous-line style on a plain ground
Drawings, not photographs.

CHANEL'S GARDEN

Chanel's Garden

El jardín de Chanel

A garden is where you go to sit with somebody who is not here. This is the same idea, made of things: the family's drawings of Chanel — and of Bruno, her best friend — printed one at a time, so a memory of her can go home with you.

Un jardín es adonde uno va a sentarse con alguien que ya no está. Esto es la misma idea, hecha de cosas: los dibujos que la familia hizo de Chanel — y de Bruno, su mejor amigo — impresos de uno en uno, para que un recuerdo de ella se vaya a casa contigo.

  • Chanel drawn smiling in a bed of sunflowers, marigolds and bougainvillea — the artwork on this print

    Chanel's Garden Print

    Chanel drawn sitting in a Salvadoran flower bed — sunflowers, marigolds and bougainvillea. The picture this garden is named for, on matte paper.

    From $32

  • Chanel drawn inside a full wreath of sunflowers — the artwork on this round ceramic ornament

    Chanel Wreath Ornament

    Chanel at the centre of a full ring of sunflowers, on a glossy ceramic ornament that hangs from a gold string. A small bright way to keep her in the room.

    $16

  • Chanel drawn inside a wreath of marigolds, sunflowers and bougainvillea — the artwork on this mug

    Chanel Marigold Mug

    Chanel inside a wreath of marigolds, sunflowers and bougainvillea, printed on a morning mug. Warm colour, never grey.

    From $24

Every piece is made after you order it, which is why it takes a little while and why nobody has a warehouse of it. The full garden is behind the button below.

Cada pieza se hace después de que la pides, por eso tarda un poco y por eso nadie tiene una bodega llena. El jardín completo está detrás del botón de abajo.

Enter Chanel's Garden

HOW A KEEPSAKE HAPPENS

Siempre Contigo

Chanel's Garden is her own shelf now, printed from her own drawings. Siempre Contigo is the wider programme beside it — the shelf for the animals a family still talks about in the present tense — and the pieces there are made the same way hers are.

El jardín de Chanel ya es su propia repisa, impresa con sus propios dibujos. Siempre Contigo es el programa más amplio que está junto a él — la repisa para los animales de los que una familia todavía habla en presente — y las piezas de allí se hacen igual que las de ella.

A keepsake here starts with a life somebody actually lived, in this order and no other.

  1. A photograph

    One picture of the animal, from the family who had them.

  2. The real story

    Who they were. Not a template, not a breed description.

  3. A drawing

    Made by hand from that photograph and that story, and checked by a person.

  4. Then a keepsake

    Only then, and only once somebody has seen the drawing and said yes.

Chanel and Bruno drawn sitting shoulder to shoulder in a bed of yellow sunflowers, Chanel small and pale cream-white on the left, Bruno tan with a white blaze and white chest on the right, both with tall upright ears and dark eyes, painted in warm watercolourA gathered bouquet of six yellow sunflowers with dark brown centres, bound with sage-green leaves and stems, drawn in flat colour with clean dark outlines. No dog is drawn in this piece; it is the sunflower memory motif from Chanel's remembrance set

Drawings of Chanel and Bruno, not photographs of them.

See Siempre Contigo

FOR YOUR OWN

For the ones your family still talks about

Chanel is the reason this exists. Send us a photograph of your own animal and we draw them the same way — by hand, checked by a person, printed on nothing until you have seen it.

Chanel es la razón por la que esto existe. Mándanos una foto de tu animal y lo dibujamos igual — a mano, revisado por una persona, y no se imprime nada hasta que lo hayas visto.

  • Chanel drawn sitting front-on with a single yellow sunflower and sprigs of green leaves tucked behind her left ear; pale cream-white coat, enormous upright ears washed pink inside, large dark eyes and a soft closed-mouth smile, in ink line and watercolour
  • Bruno drawn sitting beside a single tall yellow sunflower, warm tan coat with a white blaze up his muzzle and forehead, white chest and white paws, tall upright ears and brown eyes, looking calmly at the viewer in watercolour and ink line
Drawings, not photographs.

Personalize a portrait

Two photographs of Chanel were cleared by the family and they are on this page, marked as photographs. One of them is also the only cleared photograph of Bruno anywhere on this site; every other picture of him here is a drawing, and each one says so. Chanel's own designs are not drawn yet, so nothing in her garden carries her picture — those are the Siempre Contigo keepsakes that exist today.

Our Family