I often describe my process when creating work as a spiritual endeavor. I feel as though I am a conduit or channel for divine energy to pass through my bodymind and become manifest.
While not engaged in the act of creating, I strive to watch my thoughts. I allow waves of sorrow to pass through and I take lots of time to walk in nature, read uplifting texts, read sorrowful texts, and allow myself to do nothing.
I began this body of work sometime in 2022 after my husband passed away a year and a half ago. In so many ways it feels like it all happened yesterday and I find it hard to refer to him in the past tense.
Some days are so extremely difficult because I miss his laugh, his beautiful mind and the ability to hug him.
The motif of water and sky with heightened colors of twilight are imbedded in my memory from the influence of living across the street from St. Joseph’s Sound in Dunedin, Florida.
Upon reflection after creating these paintings, I find them very soothing. They express a deep love that goes beyond the picture plane. They express my longing for him while at the same time allow me to encompass a knowing that he is here with me always. If I choose to remember to break the grief with an invitation to care for his memory, then I am able to acknowledge his profound presence within me. Ultimately they are not about me or him specifically. I believe the horizon where sky meets water is a place of universal contemplation of impermanence.
