The Unfolding of a Mother’s Heart

- When words fail me I use painting to share ideas and feelings that transcend written language. Like everyone else, I’m struggling to convey what I really feel to people outside of my “bubble” - but that’s not the world i want to live in. I believe that we must challenge each other to learn - we must be people of free and accurate speech to be civilized - but we all know how hard that’s been. So, I’ve been working on a series focused on finding and expressing common ground that we all share - regardless of politics and the words we use to convey our views. I believe that no matter what we believe in we can all agree that the only thing that really matters is building a world that is better for our children. So let’s start there. This painting depicts a mother’s heart - from the first sweet moments our babies are placed in our arms and we believe everything is possible in the unwritten future ahead, on to the depth and dimension we add as we lean into who our kids are and learning about ourselves and parenting them. Next to the joys, pain and growing recognition for the need for individuation and separation of adolescence and finally the elastic, adaptable, all-encompassing heart that takes the back seat to the adult lives of our offspring while celebrating their wins, absorbing their pain, and always, always wanting to make it all better. No one tells us what being a parent really means for the rest of our lives - it’s a journey we all experience individually. But if I may ask for a call to action about the world we live in today and the way we speak to each other and the choices we make it’s this: the future belongs to our children and grandchildren - let’s make it a place they want to inhabit by listening to one another. Let this purpose guide us and unify us - this is our why - this is why we need to work together - to take our adult hearts and find a path forward.