Healing, Hope, and Home

Hello Friend,

Our family’s been through some challenging times lately! Our special needs boy Elijah suffered a broken arm from a caregiver at school in March. It’s been a tough road to recovery - the poor kid didn’t understand why his arm was hurting so much. I stayed home with him through the entirety of the healing process. Emerging from the experience were layers and layers of emotions. When Elijah’s arm was nearing a full recovery and we could finally breathe, I clearly needed to express these emotions when I got back into the studio. The new series will feature themes of healing, resilience in the face of adversity, strength in togetherness, and perseverance of love.

The Fractured Faithful

I hope as you view this piece, there are some connections you find to your own life’s story. One reason I love painting animals is how uniquely we relate to them and can find meanings specific to us. I like to use symbols that aren’t so ubiquitous. Just to highlight a few in this one, the ostriches symbolize justice, as the Egyptian hieroglyphs for “justice” is the ostrich feather. Raphael also used ostriches for this symbolism. Another symbol is the raven - in the Old Testament, God brought provisions to the prophet Elijah during a severe drought. These are the meanings I’ve assigned to the animals, but you’re free to interpret the symbols how you feel. I’d love to hear your version!