Wanting to take on new subject matter, I found myself sketching leaves & layering colors, letting a variety of ideas take up space all at once. Burdened by newness & being led out of comfort, I desperately wanted to abandon the canvas and land somewhere safe instead. New life was expanding within me & my mind still fell upon loss, often together in one breath. My honest thoughts were, life is bringing too much change - I really don’t want to grow.

And yet, little by little, with time & patience, I kept stretching, as we unknowingly do. Not forgetting, not moving on, just finding myself able to carry more - tenderly, carefully, tenaciously both pieces of delight & pieces of pain. The concept of growing outward, not upward, enlightened me and this three-painting series took form.

Daily, I’m widening, in all sorts of ways, making space for all the body & heart can hold.