behind “honest”

This is a place that’s raw, still, and honest.

Where I new in my bones I wanted to and maybe even needed to paint this series. Make this a collection that dives deeper into the.

Last November, I made a long trip home to spend more time with my family. I went out to see my grandparents I'm still lucky to get to wrap my arms around. As I was driving away heading back to Oxford, the sun hit the fields just as I remembered them as a kid.

It felt like the most quiet and pure homecoming.

So I set my typical excuse of not having time down, pulled the car over, took off my shoes and walked out to the perimeter of the farm to stand and listen. Listen to every ounce of the stillness, bird chirps, unsteady breeze and feel the ground underneath me. Listen to myself and set down anything that bubbled up that I didn’t need to keep carrying.

Not gonna lie. It felt cathartic and also the most woo-woo thing I could have done. If you’re laughing, there was a part of me doing that too. But this moment of feeling the ground under me and making the time to listen was the original intention for all of these pieces.

There are a lot of full days where being busy is a guarantee and not a choice. Kids need to be fed, the meeting has to happen, and the dishes have to be cleaned but in the midst of these days, I wanted these pieces to represent this pause. The deep breath that helps reset our bodies and the grounding that helps us recognize when a mindset shift would offer a lot of goodness.

I know you’ve created really beautiful spaces and hold it all together. My hope since before I event put the paintbrush to the canvas was for these pieces to hang on your lovely walls and be that quiet reminder to feel the ground, listen, and trust yourself. Even if it’s just for a minute.