Day 4. Displaced

“Holy Longing” 8×8, oil on canvas Back in November I was in Baton Rouge visiting my brother and we took a walk in his neighborhood which is in the middle of town, full of big historic homes and beautiful well-kept lawns. When I spotted a fox in someone’s yard, I at first thought it had […]
Day 3. Ease.

“You Have My Full Attention” 4×4, oil on canvas “I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed” – Mary Oliver A while back, before it finally and […]
Day 2. Beginnings are Hard

“Splendidly Small, Brilliantly Blue” 4×4, oil on canvas Beginnings are hard because they necessarily involve loss. With the first stroke, suddenly what once held infinite possibilities now displays just one. And a completed painting, a recorded song, a finished poem is now only what it is instead of all the infinite things it could have […]
Day 1. Marathon, Not a Sprint

It’s been twenty years since…

I nervously took my first art class in 2000 at Spring Hill College. My professor’s kind but direct handling of me and my work turned out to be exactly what I needed. Unlike my peers, I was just discovering a penchant for art– not at eight, but at eighteen. And so for four glorious years […]
What is Good.

I will defend my position with the gusto of a hummingbird claiming her spot at a busy feeder: the currently popular sentiment (as evidenced by mugs at every home goods store and tank tops on instagram), “good vibes only” is not only unrealistic but also irresponsible. I know my cheery demeanor, my flowery art, […]
Mary Oliver’s “Hurricane”

I had two friends reach out recently about hardships they are facing. The kind of hardships that feel so unfair, so unnecessary. Both times I immediately thought of Mary Oliver’s poem, “Hurricane” which I have taken to reading nearly every morning. I’d love to create a new piece inspired by this poem. The […]
Blessing for when things don’t go as planned

On the seven hundredth day…

I do a painting a day every January to set the tone for my year, establish strong creative habits, and to make sure I prioritize my art which, over the years, has become synonymous with prioritizing myself. But when February (finally) came, as it always does, life hit like a tornado of weird schedules and […]