Signs of Life — A New Original Collection

“The Land Speaks” Original Watercolor

As I sit here contemplating this new body of work I am releasing into the world, it has dawned on me that I haven’t released any new originals since October of last year. Shortly after, I sunk my roots into the earth and let her take me deep down, deep inward.

Signs of Life is a collection of 17 new original watercolor paintings created during the hibernation of a long dark winter. Each painting for me became a beacon of hope, a reminder that no pain lasts forever…

The series is representative of a journey. One that began with a long-held weariness that ushered me into a deeper rest and solace than I have ever known. Rest led to space, which led into experiencing nothingness, which then led me to truth.

What I learned is that while seeing the truth can be painful, the denial of it is what keeps humans in suffering. It separates us from its sting but traps us in an illusion.

Then came grief.

The catharsis. The weight of that truth held and released, held and released. It is grief that I have learned softens us. Grief makes us kind to ourselves when the refusal of it would harden and embitter.

Life brought me to a space where truth could not be ignored, where the past came back in dreams, and where an old self stood before me asking, “can you be with me now?” In all honesty, this collection feels like putting my heart on a platter. Releases are always vulnerable but this one speaks to so much of my very human experience. Though, I went into each and every one of these paintings with suffering, I came out with hope. It was as if they lifted me into the wind and carried me to a freedom that only existed in my most desperate dreams.

I could continue to hold it all close to my chest. To hide myself away in my own little forest by the river with my tower and my walls. But we live in a world today that needs honesty, and vulnerability, and the bravery to speak to the human experience of being with our pain and coming out of it like a Phoenix from the ashes. We need to know that we are not alone and that is why we need art.

Thank you kindly for reverently holding these paintings in your gaze. For the support of my work, and for being here so I can share it with you.

To experience this new collection, click here.