The Dream Component of Patience

This summer has been about patience. Not just the don't shout at your child kind of patience (though that has been needed). But more so the don't let go of your dream component of patience. I set out at the beginning of the summer with my emphasis (creatively) on collecting inspiration. And the summer has been full of inspiration. I knowingly engaged this summer with less time for my creative outlets and more focus on the littles in my life. I was able to do a few commissions (I'm so grateful). And here, at the end of summer I got to follow a creative path of my choosing.

I hesitated for a moment in beginning this piece. Wondering which inspiration I should pursue. During the school year, I was able to keep closer pace with my inspiration creating nearly a piece a week. But now I had poppies, blueberries, waterlilies, hydrangeas, succulents all calling my name at once. I decided to go with my most recent in time inspiration. Succulents.

At first I felt a little reservation if I could do it. This is perhaps one of the more complicated paintings I've attempted. And yet. I knew from my hydrangea work: one petal at a time. My gardenia work: trust the process. You don't have to know the whole picture (Isn't it nice how lessons in life build.) I told a dear friend: "This piece will either be a disaster or something special."

You see. Succulents are all about patience. They hold extra water in dry climates. And the invitation I hear whispered from this canvas is to hold on. To gather the inspiration through droughts of expression. Through seasons of overwhelm. To know that patience can be beautiful and life sustaining.

So for today, my hope and prayer for each of us is that we might breathe into what is unfolding in our life right now. That we might breathe in patience. That we might remember the beauty of a breathe, a moment, a day. That we trust the process and trust our lives will unfold at just the right pace. That we hold onto inspiration even when it can't take form. And if we can find that ability to see the exquisite beauty right here in this moment. We will have found a living picture of patience.

"Why should I be unhappy? Every parcel of my being is in full bloom." Rumi

"Every Parcel" 48' x 48" (c) Bronwen Mayer Henry (Acrylic on Canvas) (Available for Purchase, Contact Artist for Details.)

Trust the Process

Trust the Process.

Today I've been working on a painting I love. It has been a challenge. And fulfilling. I also knew it wasn't quite right according to the buyers requests. She came by today to see it and give some feedback. What amazed me was that in this traditionally vulnerable spot (presenting work. receiving feedback.) I felt at ease. I have enough experience behind me to know that when a painting isn't quite there, it means you are on the shores of a breakthrough. It means when you finish it you will love it even more. It means that there is something there you haven't discovered yet. It means that the parts that bother you, will be transformed into some of your favorite parts of the painting. It means this version will provide a depth and richness that wouldn't be possible without it. Nothing is lost. All will be used.

I am so thankful for this experience of painting and I know that slowly, very slowly, these lessons that I'm learning at the canvas, are traveling into the rest of my life as well.

Imagine what it would feel like to know that the parts of your life right now that don't feel quite right are part of a beautiful layering? What if I had the joyful confidence that any unrest or discontent was only a sign that life was going to get even better?

What if I smiled with the process in anticipation of the unfolding?

*** "Together" 48" x 48" (Acrylic on Canvas) ****

Giving Liberates

"Giving Liberates" (triptych) 7.21.16 | "14" x 40", 18" x 40", 14" x 40" (Acrylic on Canvas).

This painting of aspens is a custom commissioned piece, painted with a prayer of gratitude for generosity, courageous bold limitless giving. Honoring the generosity of another and holding space and hope that we might each step into more abundance open generous living. Like the light dancing through the trees, a generous heart, open home, welcoming arms can bring great beauty, hope, joy. There is something to the amount of leaves, dancing together, reminding us of movement, of healing, of a future. There are shadows, but they do not dominate. How can we remember to open to light, to open to others, to open our hearts?"It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into the giving." Mother Teresa

"The heart that gives, gathers." Tao Te Ching

"For it is in giving that we receive." Francis of Assisi

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver." Maya Angelou

A Prayer of Gratitude.

Dear God, Creator, Source of Light and Love, Abundant Joy and Hope, 

Thank you for each person you've created and the brightness present in them. Thank you for open hearts. Thank you for courage. Thank you for bold brave abundant souls. Teach us also to open our hearts, homes, lives to others. Give us courage and compassion, wisdom and grace to give back the many blessings we feel from you. Amen.

Protector &Protected

What if you knew there was a loving presence looking after you right now? What if you felt safe and protected? What if you moved from thinking there was a loving Divine being to feeling that loving Divine being's presence?

It was just over three years ago now that I learned this lesson in a deep way. I remember lying in a hospital bed post operation. I was in a great deal of pain. But more than my physical distress my mind was overcome with anxiety and fear. What had happened? Would everything be okay? Why did I feel so distressed? I remembered my mind racing through a pattern of thoughts. Why don't I pull it together? There are other people suffering more. I thought surely there was some idea, some phrase, something I could think or do that would relieve me of my inner turmoil. I wrestled with this into the darkest hours of the night. A dear friend sat with me. Holding my hand. And yet I couldn't find ease. I couldn't rest. I couldn't exhale.

And then a gentle quiet comforting message came to me. That there wasn't any idea or thought that I needed. What I needed was love. Not even the words around love, but the experience of love. What I needed was to breathe into this very moment being held with love. And I did. And it changed me.

"The finger that points to the moon is not the moon."

*********

Working on these paintings, I have felt my heart singing. I created these two paintings with a prayer on my heart to remember that I am being held in love. I created depth of texture. In one painting emphasizing the baby. In the other the mother. I meditated on a benevolent loving force holding and protecting me in my life. I meditated on my longing to protect others, the parts of me that are nurturing and protective with great strength. Knowing how elephants are threatened in the wild I felt their vulnerability and strength. And the vulnerability and strength required of each of us to offer love and protection and to open to receive that love and protection.

***
Protector/Protected
(poem by Bronwen Henry)
She did not need answers. 
She only needed to curl up
in a loving embrace. 
To remember
love had been there the whole time. 
Holding her.

In protecting another
she recognized her vulnerability. 
And she knew
that vulnerability was the only path.
Love was safe in her and around her. 
While she held another, 
she found herself to be held as well.

******

"Protected"
30" x 48" (Acrylic on Canvas)

"Protector" 
30" x 48" (Acrylic on Canvas)

Light_and_Dark

Sometimes in life we are encouraged to count our blessings, to be grateful. This can be a useful practice, but when we do this to the exclusion of acknowledging the struggles in our life it can feel inauthentic.

Sometimes we find ourselves totally focused on the shadows and struggles of life. When we do this without acknowledging the blessings, the birds singing, the rhododendron about to burst into bloom, life can be overwhelming even debilitating.

There is scripture at the beginning of the Gospel of John that speaks to this for me. It says; "In God was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

It does not say that darkness ceases to exist. It says that darkness does not overcome the light. This is a scripture that I have returned to when my faith becomes threadbare from the struggles and suffering in the world.

The truth of this scripture comes to me as I paint. To hold the light and darkness together. The blessings and the struggles. And. Both. Life. And the invitation to wrap it all in love.

****
I had the honor to share these paintings and some of my story at Gloria Dei Church over the weekend. It was a blessing and joy. I love sharing my art and inspiration, and I'm open to future opportunities as well.

Earth_Bread_and_Brewery_SHOW_May_and_June

Im so happy to have my work up at my favorite restaurant. Come check outEarth Bread + Brewery in Mt.Airy_May and June to see my work and enjoy awesome beer and food.

Paintings_on_Display_at_Bryn_Athyn_College_Chapel

I'm getting ready to give a talk this Friday at Bryn Athyn College Chapel at 10:40am. If you want to hear some of my story and current reflections on creativity and compassion come on out.

Here_is_my_painting_'Sacred_Imperative'_on_display_at_Bryn_Athyn_College's_Chapel.

Reflections on Creativity on the WHY Blog podcast

It was so fun to be part of this podcast. Luke Frazier does a great job with it. I talk in this session especially about why I paint (not sure exactly), how I make time to paint, and ideas for other people looking to make time for creativity.

http://thewhyblog.com/2016/03/09/what-brings-us-alive-with-bronwen-henry/

How Do You Tackle a Commission? Four Strategies That Have Helped Me

4 strategies that have helped me to create commissions with joy

This weekend I'm beginning my 30th commission, and I wanted to share some of my process of creating commissions on a practical level. It is my impression that many artists avoid commissions, preferring to create from their own inspiration. I totally get that and honor that. For me, I find tremendous joy in the commission process and wanted to share some of my approaches.

1. Changing the Focus from Performance to Prayer

If you follow my work, you've probably heard me talk about the heart of my work is around meditation and prayer. Opening to joy and also holding suffering. When I work on a commission I always ask people what I can hold in prayer for them and it is an HONOR. 

Because of this caring/ prayer focus I simply adore doing commissions. I love building a bit more of  a relationship with someone I don't know as well. I adore the connection and conversation. I find the 'assignment' to be a challenge, that leads me to a more creative approach and problem solving. Holding the client in my prayers is heart warming and helps me work with courage and compassion.

2. Know your No
I have turned down commission opportunities that are themes I am not currently into painting (ex. My son's desire for me to paint darth maul, or a friends request for a flock of birds). I have also turned down commissions that are small sizes. Part of the joy for me is in working BIG so I have a minimum size requirement. And I point people to other amazing local artists who find joy in working on the canvas size that fits for them.

Sketches for a Sycamore Commission, Four Paintings Will Be Developed.

3. Creating Options
One strategy I've developed in the last year is to create a series of paintings. On one hand I find the creation of a single painting does not allow me enough time to thoroughly enjoy the subject matter.  Working on a few canvases at once gives me a chance to dive in deeper (and if color palettes are overlapping it conserves paint!)

On a practical level working on a series gives me the freedom I need. Let's say for example someone has requested a tree with yellow leaves, but for whatever reason my heart is itching to do red, green, blue leaves etc. I can follow my creative impulse on one of the other canvases, while respecting/honoring their desire for yellow leaves on THEIR canvas. In doing this I don't feel boxed in or limited.

Sometimes I will find that a few in the series fit the requests of the client, and then I can give them a few choices of which canvas speaks to them the most.

4. Freedom
I ALWAYS convey to the client before I show them the piece that they are free to buy it or not. Even though I created it for them. I am always true to myself when painting. I make sure the painting makes MY heart sing. And I lean into confidence that each painting will find a home and I don't have to force it even if I developed it for them. By doing this I also provide myself a measure of assurance that one isn't buying it out of obligation but out of joy. 

I find I continue to evolve my process with time and experience.  And I know I still have a lot to learn. What is your approach to a commission? I hope these ideas are helpful.

Heart Open | Reflections on Painting Hydrangeas

While I waited to hear her prayer request I prepared the canvases, picked up some blue hydrangeas from the local florist, and researched the symbolism of hydrangeas. One of the symbols that came up and caught my attention was love with understanding. Not a superficial love, but a deep knowing love.

Then my client sent me this prayer request:“In my family, we talk about ways we can open our hearts and move our fence to include and love others, move our fence to give up grudges, and move our fence to not judge others. My children love telling us the ways they have moved their fences! A prayer along that theme of opening our hearts to love others would be perfect!"

What a moving prayer. Then she shared this story with me: 

It is said that during the Second World War some soldiers serving in France wanted to bury a friend and fellow soldier who had been killed. Being in a foreign country they wanted to ensure their fallen comrade had a proper burial. They found a well-kept cemetery with a low stone wall around it. It was a picturesque little Catholic church with a peaceful quality. This was just the place to bury their friend. But when they approached the priest he answered that unless their friend was a baptized Catholic he could not be buried in the cemetery. He wasn’t.Sensing the soldiers’ disappointment the priest showed them a spot outside the walls where they could bury their friend. Reluctantly, they did so.The next day the soldiers returned to pay their final respects to their fallen friend but could not find the grave. “Surely we can’t be mistaken. It was right here!” they said. Confused, they approached the priest who took them to a spot inside the cemetery walls. “Last night I couldn’t sleep,” said the priest. “I was troubled that your friend had to be buried outside the cemetery walls, so I got up and moved the fence.”

It has been an honor to hold this story as I paint. As I discover and paint each each opened hydrangea petal, I think of how to open my own heart to more love and acceptance. To let go of judgment and prejudice. An insight I’ve gained through painting the hydrangeas with this prayer and this story is that opening to acceptance, creating space for the ‘other,' or moving the fence is not a one time effort, but a lifetime of small gestures. The hydrangea is gorgeous because of its many small blooms. Each one is opening to something beautiful! 

"When people draw a small circle that excludes me or my friends, I try to draw a bigger circle that includes them." Brian McLaren

How beautiful would the world be if we could all draw bigger circles, move fences, recognize that the one we saw as 'other' was actually part of the ‘us’ that inhabits this earth?

I've named this series Heart Open as a prayer and reminder to do just that.
"Heart Open I, II, III 36" x 108" (c) Bronwen Mayer Henry (Acrylic on Canvas)

"Compassionate action, compassionate speech is not a one shot deal; it's a lifetime journey.” Pema Chödrön

"Helping yourself or someone else has to do with opening and just being there; that's how something happens between people. But it is a continuous process. That's how you learn. You can't just open once." Pema Chödrön

Creating Refuge | Reflections on This Painting

The past few days have been challenging for me. I've been grieving paths I didn't take, paths I couldn't take. I've been feeling frustration at stuck systems. Yet each morning I have the peaceful mercy of painting. And all the while working away on this painting/commission has been a reprieve and refuge from my worries and regrets. I received such a beautiful prayer request with this painting; "Toremember that nothing is wrong with this present moment. That I am safe and resourced, whole and expansive, connected. That you and all beings would feel safe, whole and connected." I urge you to spend one breath, one moment, one hour, one day reflecting on 'Nothing is wrong with this present moment.' and see how your life is transformed before you. To see that the path that is unfolding before you is in fact more beautiful than you could have imagined.

"Creating Refuge" 60" x 36" (Acrylic on Canvas)

Stepping Into Your Joy is Important

When you discover something that makes your heart soar, that makes time fly, that makes you feel at peace with the world, that gives you courage and grace and hope and trust. By all means do that thing. Make it a priority like you do drinking water. Let it restore your soul. This is no trivial matter. This may be the heart of the salvation of the world. For salvation is salve, healing. When we step into our joy we are healed. When we step into our joy we spread joy. Ever so briefly touch on some of the atrocities that have been done in the world, consider the people behind them. Were these people happy? Were they stepping into their bliss? Did they know that they were cared for and they were allowed to feel joy?

"Healthy, happy people do not start wars." Eva Kor, Holocaust Survivor.

Real Woman Publishes My Story

This is the opening spread of a new article featuring my story in the magazine Real Woman. Of course 'Creative Genius' feels overly bold to me...I think what is most true is we are all genius's when we remember to step into our creativity and our joy.

Read more here: http://realwomanonline.com/creative/

100 Paintings (Celebrating Milestones)

This week has been a big week for me. I just completed my 100th large painting. 

If you had told me 3 years ago that I would be painting daily, creating larger paintings than I've ever created before, selling them, getting to share creative projects with care and love through prayer and painting...I would have turned my head to the side with confusion (like my dear sweet puppy does when I give him a command). I would have furrowed my eyebrows and said "Wait, what?" 

This experience, this unexpected arrival and stepping into something that brings me so much joy, the opportunity to share that joy with others has humbled me in a profound way. It has given me the confidence to say to another: "It will not always be like this." "Change is possible" "Transformation is possible." "This shit storm you are in, might be clearing the way for something beautiful. It is overwhelming as hell right now. It is real. It is hard. And out of the shit/compost of life beauty grows. 

So I share with you my celebration of the creation of my 100th painting. 100 canvases of joy, tears, and authentically experiencing life as it unfolds (and wrapping it in compassion).

New Development: Offering and Helping to Answer Prayers Through Paintings

I am feeling so grateful to share this new development in my painting efforts.

If you've followed my work, you know that prayer is a big part of my
painting experience. With each painting, each brush stroke, I am spending time in prayer. I have a confidence around prayer and how it is transformative. I feel clear that prayer is about changing the person who offers the prayer. I also feel that praying compels us to action. Perhaps in quiet unseen ways, perhaps in big ways.

A few weeks ago I made the decision that with each original painting I sell I will donate 10% to an organization that serves the needs related to what I'm holding in prayer while working.

Some examples:

1.  I recently completed a custom painting for a friend, her prayer requests were about having a hope and a future and I've decided to send 10% to an orphanage that offers children a hope and a future. 

2. For the painting I'm doing for a young woman navigating an eating disorder, I will donate to an organization that supports young women having a better future around the world.

3. There is a painting I worked on during the anniversary of my Radioactive Iodine Treatment for thyroid cancer and I donated 10% of the sale of that painting to THYCA supporting Thyroid Cancer Survivors.

It is my hope to continue to give back to non-profits that are offering care and support to a variety of needs. Non-profits that are helping to answer prayers. Here is information on the non-profits I've been able to support so far. 

My heart is so happy to know that in addition to a gentle, peaceful time painting, in addition to a beautiful play of color on a canvas, I get to give back in a small way to helping to answer so many heartfelt prayer requests and prayers.

It would be my joy to collaborate with the person buying the painting on the non-profit that they are lit up about that are helping to make the world a better place. This feels like a full circle aspect of my painting experience and I am grateful to the many people who have invested in my pieces and made it possible for me to give back in this way. 



 

Art Show Opening Talk

In the face of so much suffering in the world, it can seem almost wrong to stop and celebrate creativity. And yet, perhaps that is an important response. To hold those suffering in our prayers, to offer our help and care, and to create spaces for beauty and joy in the world. 

It was an honor to do a third annual music and art night with Michelle Chapin. She has a authenticity, wit and joy to her music that is infectious.

Doing another art show is such an honor and a joy and a mystery in my life. I genuinely maintain the sense of surprise as I did at the first show of how did I get to be here? 

Many of you know my story (or parts of it) and here is a recap.

I was diagnosed in February 2013 with Thyroid Cancer. In some ways this is a 'great cancer' and it really is because the outcomes are so good. And yet as anyone who has navigated Thyroid Cancer will tell you there are some significant hardships financial, surgeries, lifetime maintenance etc. And there is the actual treatment. For me it included a total thyroidectomy and because the cancer was found in my lymph nodes Radioactive Iodine treatment, my dose required 7 days in isolation.

In anticipation of that time of isolation I decided (if I was feeling well enough) that I would paint. I hadn't painted in more than 3 years at this time in my life. And I also wanted to up the game. So I bought a canvas more than 3x bigger than anything I'd painted before.

A memory came to me so vividly the other day was the moment of being handed the pill. A friend brought me to the hospital. I was in the waiting room of the Nuclear Medicine department (close to the exit!) and they called my name. I had already had pre-procedure meetings where I was oriented to safety precautions etc. So this really was just a 'swallow a pill' and leave' moment. They led me to a back room. The technician put on gloves for protection. They opened a lead box. They opened a small lead container in that box. They used tongs of some sort and picked up the pill. They put it in a cup and handed it to me. To swallow. I remember that moment and really thinking I might just run from the room, department, building screaming and never look back. And of course that would be embarrassing. But also I needed to face this moment. I had my blank canvas in my friend's home waiting for me. I took a breath and I swallowed. Then they ushered me out of the space about as quickly as possible.

And I was alone. And my painting journey began.

That was two and a half years ago. I thought it would be my first and last time painting big.

And yet something awakened for me in that time. And I choose to honor it. To not have to be sick or going through a treatment to get to paint.

I've now completed more than 90 large paintings. 22 of which are hanging at BeWell Cafe today.

I will tell you that now that I have developed a habit and even (gasp) a bit of a career around painting. I look back and wonder why I wasn't painting long ago? And the only thing I can come up with was that I wasn't good enough, or rather others were better. I had no respect for how painting transformed ME I only had comparison and insecurity that others were much better and therefore I wouldn't paint. To me this now seems absurd, but somehow this just made sense to my young mind.

Now I compare it to running. If someone tells you they are a runner, do you ask "Oh did you win an Olympic gold?" No. We know that we run because it is healthy for our bodies, our minds. We do not expect to be the best at exercise. We do it anyway. I think creativity is the same. Or rather that it should be. It should not be about our external performance, comparison, but honoring the inner transformation that takes place. 

For me painting is a time of meditation, transformation. I have especially enjoyed working on commissioned pieces. I see commissions as a chance to connect with someone in a meaningful way. Not only am I being vulnerable by creating a piece for them, but I invite people to be vulnerable and share with me how I can hold them in prayer. it is my experience that every prayer someone asks for always has relevance for me, and I end up holding the other person, myself and really each of us in that prayer. 

I have been reflecting recently on the poet Kabir's words: "wherever you are is the entry point." And it is my hope and prayer that for each of us, no matter what struggle we are going through or if something new is opening or expanding we might remember that this place can be an entry point into more compassion and creativity. 

Finding Time to Be Creative

How do you find time to for your creative outlet?

For me it has become a necessity. Painting has disproportionate results in my life so I give it significant space and time.  Perhaps painting, dance classes, writing workshops feel luxurious or too expensive. Well guess what? Getting cancer is really expensive! (Oi! Let's not talk about all the bills!)  Being on medication for depression, relationships falling apart, quitting your job ...all very expensive! Suddenly your creative outlet sounds affordable-doesn't it?

Why not spend the time, space, money up front to relieve stress, step into your
joy, and live a more full life...now. Sometimes retreating into creativity feels selfish to me...and yet the restoration it gives me empowers me to 'return' to the rest of my life to my responsibilities with a peace and joy that is very difficult for me to access otherwise.

People often ask me 'how do I make time for painting' etc. Well, I use facebook less. I watch shows less. I am raising my kids (now 7/5) to do more chores than their peers. I rarely clean when the kids are out of house or asleep. And because as Elizabeth Gilbert put it "Because I knew what I wanted to do (write) and I knew how I wanted to do it (with joyful energy)...and so many, many things had to be let go."  And so I say no (or not now). To many things.

In some ways I don't effort at making time for painting. I run towards painting. It is my reprieve, My joy. It is not a burden I have to compel myself to do. It speaks to the well known quote from Confucious "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." In other ways, I effort at it regularly. I have carved out painting time and then I must defend it with my life. Everything threatens this time that I commit to creativity. Meeting up with friends, doing chores, getting extra work done, stray dogs that need catching, you name it!

A friend told me about a writer who was also a full-time engineer. She made a whole career out of writing by writing 15 minutes every morning. This inspired me deeply. It isn't the large chunks of time that we find, but the repetition of small chunks. Or as my dear friend Lori Odhner, a creative genius herself, says she is creative during "the cracks of motherhood." There was a time recently when I would paint between bedtime snack and bedtime. So while the kids got jammies on and brushed their teeth (this was a solid 20-30 minute endeavor) I would paint. That was my crack in motherhood. I'm willing to pick up my brush even if I don't have much time. As the kids get older, I am finding more time.

I also do a lot of the chores related to painting (they don't feel like chores to me) with the kids. Building/stretching/prepping a canvas, researching and exploring in nature for inspiration these are all things I do with my kids (see pic above!). And I lean into the confidence that by showing them what it looks like to integrate creativity into ordinary life I am giving them a gift of sorts.

Now what is a much greater struggle for me, is how to find time to grocery shop.

"Wherever you are is the entry point." Kabir

How will you enter into your creativity today?

"Already Blooming" Finds New Home

Today the painting "Already Blooming" is finding a new home. "Already Blooming" has a soft spot in my heart. I was drawn to paint a flower, opening. I remember right around that time hearing Lupita Nyong'o (2013 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 12 Years a Slave) speak about how "A flower couldn't help but bloom inside me." 

This reminds me of the deep goodness and perfection of who we are that is already underway, already unfolding, already blooming whether or not the world threatens to tell us that because of our age, race, gender we are not good enough. I painted this with a hope that we each remember the ways we are 'Already Blooming'.

Sacred Imperative

There are many reasons that painting this series (titled "Sacred Imperative I, II, II) of paintings that could not fit in my home...did not make sense. And yet I felt a clear impulse, a sacred imperative if you will, to do so. I knew I wanted to paint a tree big, very big. I often long to paint trees life size. And I had the idea to use a few canvases together (that would fit in my home) to make it happen.

As I started working on the painting, moving the canvases around, I started laughing. The clear parallels for other parts of my life, and how there doesn't seem to be room for all of me were clear. And so with a self-compassionate laugh I carried on working on this canvas. A friend reminded me: Yes the painting doesn't fit in your home, yes there are places in your life/work where you don't fit...and you are doing it. You are painting this large canvas. You are finding ways to be bigger than some of the boxes around you. 

So I offer this painting with a prayer for each of us: May we might fully inhabit our beings. May we be as big, bright, joyful, wise, loving as we are called to be no matter what the forces around us say. And may we each follow the impulse to create and live fully.

"Our creative urges are a sacred imperative." Julia Cameron

Hidden Hope in Hard Times

These three paintings are finished. I painted them at once in a series but each one chose a bit of a different voice. I love the woods in summer. These paintings speaking to me of hidden hope in hard times. Of continuing to walk, trusting the path. Sparks of joy in it all.