From the nostalgic brush

My mother's daughter

(For sale)

From the full palette

 Arabian 5x7 Card Series #1

Arabian 5x7 Card Series #2

Arabian 5x7 Card Series #3

From the curious brush

Wonder

(Gifted; prints available)

From the wandering brush

Searching for validation

(For sale)

From the lively brush

Souls on fire
(Prints available)

From the brush of freedom: Ancient Wind

Ancient wind

(Sold; prints available)

This is the first substantial piece I've done that has deviated from "The Redhead and the Sea" series, and I suppose it wasn't by accident that it wound up being a colorful, loose depiction of Arabian horses. When I was a kid, I wrote a poem in which I described horses as "the physical manifestation of freedom," and I suppose it represents how I feel most days, as I continue to move away from my self-destructive vices.

From the brush that gives back: Wading for the stars

(Sold! Copies available)

From the nuturing brush.

My soul

(For Sale)

In response to the prompt, "What in your life needs nuturing?"

For the expectant brush: Moon baby

(Gifted; copies available)

From the hesitant brush

The decision
(for sale)

A bluebird looks on as the usual redheaded girl is being offered a hand of guidance and support into the sea of her struggles; she will not enter there alone. The redhead perches on the ledge, her toes testing the crest of a wave for stability. The waves of deeper water are crested in green for growth, while the shallower water speaks of hope. Her brown-haired companion I'd like to think of as my friend A, a temporary roommate in my old apartment whom I grew very close with. Our struggles are remarkably similar, and it was no accident that we met. Her ghostly form, more of a guiding spirit than an actual entity, wishes to show me her strength-- that getting in deep into your demons is the only way through them. That bluebird of happiness, typically a guide, observes as I decide whether or not to trust the hand of another person in my life, as Lisa often does.

From the cross brush

Choice
(Sold! Copies avaiable)

This painting is reminiscent of the first piece of artowrk I did with S, the art therapist at my treatment center called "Swaming the song." We had an individual session in which she asked me to depict an event that had nudged me toward inpatient treatment. I drew a bluebird, the first of many to come, crouched on the low branches of a dead tree just above a maelstrom of waves. The rushing water is dark and complicated, as always, but has glowing pink hope in it, illuminating the darkness here and there. A menacing grey sky overlooks the lone bird, crying out for help. It does not occur to the bird to flock to others for comfort, as I did not on the night this scene depicts. That night, I pretended to talk on my cell phone as I cried alone on a curb in the darkness. I was hysterical with depression, trapped in my eating disorder, and as alone as I let myself be.

Part of what formulated this new piece was an anger that rose in me when H and L told me that water in my previous two pieces isn't as menacing as I meant for it to be, meaning that maybe my struggles aren't so dark and terrifying. So in this, I attempted to prove to them that they are dark, they do strike fear in me. In this piece, that lone bird leaves the scene as the waters rush up around thet ree. There does not appear to be a distinct direction that the current travels in, which was intentional, as I do not quite know which way I should go, but it is habit for me to draw movement to the right, so perhaps that's the right direction (pun intended). The pink atop the waves was just to please the eye and break up the monotony of the scene, but once again, it has a purpose in my message: the waves are crested in hope. The water of my troubles may be terrifying, but there is a hope in overcoming it.