Gayani Ariyaratne grew up in a country where, when somebody dies, the front door stays open.

Family, friends and neighbours come and go for days. Food arrives from surrounding homes. Stories are shared. Tears are shed openly.

Nobody is left alone.

It is a tradition the Sri Lankan artist remembers vividly, even after more than 30 years living in the UK.

“When somebody passes away, nobody leaves the family alone,” she says.

People gather to share food, tell stories and pay their respects. Some travel for miles. Others simply arrive with whatever support they can offer.

Looking back, Gayani sees something of that same spirit in hospice care.

It is one of the reasons she felt such a strong connection to ellenor when she was invited to create a sculpture for the charity’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Art Trail.

But the story behind it begins much earlier, in Sri Lanka, where Gayani’s love of colour first took shape.

When Gayani talks about colour, she talks about it the way other people talk about family.

Warmly. Passionately. As though it has always been part of who she is.

The Birmingham-based artist, known for her vibrant sculptures and bold use of colour, learned to paint almost before she could write.

“My first teacher was my dad,” she says.

An artist and sculptor himself, he introduced her to creativity when she was still a toddler growing up in Sri Lanka.  While he worked on sketches and paintings, Gayani sat alongside him experimenting with colours. One of her earliest memories is using a hirography set her father gave her and creating patterns by folding painted sheets of paper.

“I was probably only about two years old,” she says. “I still have one of those paintings.”

It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with colour.

Today, she has painted more than 20 sculptures for public art trails across the UK. Yet when she was invited to design a bear for ellenor’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Art Trail, her inspiration came from something much deeper than art.

It came from light.

Her sculpture, Bear the Light, is painted in warm oranges, golds and browns, with the sun at the heart of the design.

“The sun gives energy,” she says. “Without the sun, you can’t really live on this earth.”

For Gayani, that idea became a natural reflection of hospice care.

“The service ellenor provides is like light. When people receive it, it’s like light to their soul and light to their life.”

Born in Sri Lanka and living in the UK for more than 30 years, Gayani grew up in a culture where caring for seriously ill relatives was largely the responsibility of family members.

“If somebody wasn’t well, we looked after them at home,” she says.

In recent years she experienced that responsibility herself, returning to Sri Lanka to help care for her father. He died in 2021. Her mother died just ten months later.

The losses remain raw.

“I’m still struggling,” she admits.

Then she offers her own definition of grief:

“In my head, grief is love that you can’t give to the person anymore.”

Gayani describes how, in Sri Lankan culture, death is often experienced collectively.

When somebody dies, family, neighbours and friends gather together. Doors remain open. Food is shared. People come to pay their respects. They offer support and ensure nobody faces their loss alone.

“Nobody leaves the family alone,” she says.

For days, people come and go, bringing food, stories and comfort.

Looking back, she sees similarities between those traditions and the role hospices play today.

Gayani’s understanding of hospice care is also shaped by personal experience. Three close friends received hospice support and, through her work on public art trails, she has visited hospices across the country.

What struck her most was not the buildings, but the people.

“Kindness is very important,” she says.

“What hospices give you is not only medical care. They are looking after people’s souls.”

That belief shaped every part of Bear the Light.

Inspired by the warmth and energy of the sun, the design features sunflowers and other sun-inspired flowers painted in vibrant oranges and golds.

When visitors discover her bear on the trail, Gayani hopes they will see more than a piece of art.

She hopes they will recognise something of what hospice care means.

“They are bearing the light for people who need the service,” she says.

For Gayani, light means many things.

It is warmth.

It is kindness.

 “What hospices give you is not only medical care. They are looking after people’s souls.”

To see Bear the Light and discover the stories behind all sculptures on ellenor’s Dartford We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Art Trail, visit News – Dartford Bear Hunt