My “Leaf Glow” series attempts to communicate the beautiful aura of the leaf architecture I remember from childhood. The pieces also attempt to offer a subtle nod to the idea of “patches” and how patches are medicinal and healing. A patch is something we use to stitch something up, to cover up a hole, or some sort of a wound. To mend something that has been torn or ripped. To fix a gap. Sometimes I think my whole life is a bunch of patches patched together…..

I think about how this wintry time of year, especially, is so good for restoring ourselves, by hibernating, slowing down, taking our time. It’s a time to retreat for awhile but then to not overstay there too long and instead to draw ourselves out of the darkness of these short-short cold-cold days and put ourselves back into the light — once restored and “re-set” we can shine not just in that light but also shine our own light into the world.

This year I went to England for 10 days and became captivated by the rosettes in stained glass windows that I saw everywhere — in both the ancient and even more modern-day architecture. This imagery (below) is my version of the rosette idea. With my rosette I attempt to release cellular healing bursts of color to light our way in the new year ahead.

At my gallery, a gentleman looked at it, held it in his hands for a long time, and asked about the story behind it. I thought for sure he was going to purchase it and take it home. But, he did not.

The cells represent how I think (in my imagination) our cellular biology looks and behaves in response to, and as part of, various emotional reactions — all up to the viewer to interpret which cell is which and which cell is responding to and reacting to what, what each one is doing.

What is this imagery? I think of it as a certain kind of pansy, or maybe a petunia, a tulip unfurled, a carnation, a multitude of many different kinds of flowers all combined together into this beaming cellular floral energy.

It is an imaginary flower that combines countless floral experiences I’ve had over a lifetime.

The combined imagery is a symbol of our strength, empowerment, healing and repair, resilience, and survival as individuals on our life's journey of emotionality.

When I was a little girl, I used to love collecting colorful leaves of all different shapes throughout the year and then pressing them in my big fat thesaurus, my great big Webster dictionary, and all of our encyclopedias! Remember those?

You know how sometimes Love can be so heady, so dramatic, so fulfilling, and so crazy --- you know you shouldn't but it's just so alluring and attractive and....MAGNETIC...you lose your tether, your rudder, you just can't wait...and you just have to have it.

This piece is meant to show the duality of living a very happy life while also being aware of a deep sadness you have integrated into your Self.

After visually and emotionally experiencing the beauty of a small garden pond covered in lily pads of varying shades of green, I felt immense happiness and peace.

Trees are medicine….This particular artwork is about the cellular, emotional, and spiritual healing that occurs within us as we interact with the supreme majesty of trees. I envision the healing properties of trees as that of a nourishing blanket offering warmth, protection, security, comfort, and support to one's being, all the way into the cellular components of our bodies, as well as our heart & spirit.

A lot of my art has to do with experiencing conflicting emotions at the very same time and how we coexist with negative and positive emotions simultaneously. That’s what this particular “cellular healing” drawing/painting is about.

When I was growing up we lived in a rural setting where I had access to meadows and fields all around our house, a small apple orchard adjacent to our yard, and several ponds across the street where there was a dairy farm. We skated there on the ponds in winter and I explored the meadows and fields pretty much on a weekly basis in summers (by myself) — always collecting little bits of this and that and stashing it all away in shoeboxes…..

Do you ever wonder where love goes?

Out there in the ether I suppose

Sometimes it burns enough to leave a trace in the air

The ghost of me and you in a parallel world somewhere…..

The heart cell is both encapsulated and penetrated by healing energetic yellow light while at the same time the medicine of tears, oygen, and corpuscles is helping the broken heart cell to mend also….

The word mandala simply means “circle” in Sanskrit. Obviously the mandalas that I draw are not perfect circles. They are bumpy and wavy and sometimes lopsided. But, generally, they are roundish. Perhaps this is an intuitive metaphor for the imperfections of life.

I’ve been having recurring dreams of St. George for 25 years. This artwork is a representation of how his energy appeared to me in one of those dreams a few years ago. St. George is the patron saint of England, and many other countries, groups, and entities. Whenever I need huge doses of courage, St. George shows up in my life.

Have you had cataract surgery or know someone who did? I had a fast growing cataract in my right eye several years ago and it had gotten to the point where it had covered up my retina so that no light could get in and I had lost sight in that eye.