THE GETTING THROUGH
This collection is named after a powerful song that I listened to on repeat in the last weeks of my mother’s life. I deeply admire the artists (Judah and Amanda Cook), and have for many years. They sing the song “The Getting Through”, which hinges on the truth that there is good in walking through the struggle, rather than always hoping to just get over it. There is growth and heading and beauty within the painful turns of our lives. The heartbroken days aren’t a waste. I’ve found in this season of grief, that the beauty is in the process of walking (or crawling) with God through the very things He has allowed in my path, rather than setting a hollow hope in skipping over the pain points of my life to “get to the good parts”. So in this series, I’ve thought about how life is this path through valleys and peaks, and God’s mercy runs throughout all of it- His redemption in all of it. These landscapes are my depiction of The Getting Through.
EVENSONG
At the beginning of summer 2020, I was working on a large floral abstract commission for my beautiful mom. She wanted vivid color, white daisies (her favorite flower), jewel tones, and bold brush strokes. Before I finished it, my mom tragically died. After staring for weeks at the work in progress, which she painfully never saw, I decided to cut it into dozens of pieces. My desire was to throw composition to the wind and allow myself to let go of the original plan for that piece in an effort to look at it with hope. This was painful. In a beautiful gift from God, this project soon became cathartic. I worked on each small painting, addressing it as its own work. On the back of every canvas, I wrote a memory, story, or something I love about my mom. This collection is in celebration of her, and the fact that beauty can absolutely be drawn from brokenness.
ABSTRACT MINIS
I created this series in spurts of time that I had each day during the process of the excruciating last two weeks of my precious mom’s life in 2021. Her suffering was unbearable at times, and painting was life-giving to me. I studied finishing pieces within a small timeframe and processing grief while working out the challenges of each piece. I wanted to explore both muted color schemes as well as vibrant ones.
