I realized it’s been a while since I last shared a little about what’s been going on in our world – just over a year, in fact! Much has happened since my last written post. Granted, I’ve still been painting and sharing my new works as they’ve come into existence; however I haven’t actually taken any time to sit down and write. Just wanted to “officially” check back in!

So……we moved…….TO SEATTLE!!!! FINALLY!!! YAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!! Many, many years in the making but it finally happened. And we are so grateful, very grateful. Whirlwind as it was, we made it up and have been living life in the Pacific Northwest for about the past 10 months. We’ve been through a lot. Two different moves within a year, one cross-state. Family tragedy and grief. Getting set-up in a new, very large city. Making connections. Trying to make new friends. Getting established in our respective fields. It’s been an incredibly trying but also very rewarding journey of personal growth. And we’re still growing and learning. I think we always will be.

In the aftermath of the chaos of our move up, I still continued to push myself to keep painting as much as I could. It wasn’t always easy – there was a time in the beginning while coping with the grief of the loss within our family that I could barely muster the desire to pick up a brush. I wasn’t finding inspiration in any of my usual places. I couldn’t get to that quiet, contemplative mind-set that I had typically found myself in while painting before. I had all of these other emotions churning within me. I was afraid that if I picked up a paint brush, what I would create would be ugly. I was wrong.

After continued encouragement from my husband, I used all that “ugly” energy as fuel to work through all of the emotions bottled up inside me. I turned to abstract art as a means of emotional therapy. I had no idea how the end product would turn out. I just released all of my emotions onto canvas via paint and amazingly, I found something beautiful under all those layers every time. It helped me grow. It helped me cope. It allowed me to explore another style of art which I had never personally been drawn to before, and I LOVED it! It was emotionally freeing and healing, and I was still finding a way to bring beauty into this world, even if via a slightly different route.

Since this exploration, I have returned back to my preferred style of painting – impressionism. I am finding my inspiration in peaceful surroundings again and my sense of wholeness is returning. I’ve added quite a few pieces to my body of work and I appreciate each of them for their individual beauty and for what they mean to me personally. I am glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and allowed myself to grow as an artist. I would not hesitate to return to abstract art as a means of further self-exploration in the future, should the situation arise. I am excited to continue my personal, artistic journey in our new surroundings. I feel there is so much for me to share and learn. I will be sure to share all exciting updates and events going forward. For now, I will leave you with this – allow yourself the opportunity to grow and do not fear change, for there is beauty in all things.