"Enduring Grace"

I’ve been hibernating in my new studio this winter working on my latest painting. This piece was a pre-storm commission, and is the first one I’ve completed since Hurricane Helene. As many of you know, I lost my former studio and gallery space. The last few months have been spent moving and setting up my new studio and these clients were SO patient with the process. This painting made its way down to Florida last week to its new home; It was an 80th birthday present to the husband of the commissioner. What a beautiful thing to get to celebrate! I love creating artwork for special occasions- and I also particularly love when clients have that emotional connection to the work.

“Enduring Grace” 40” x 60” oil on canvas (mock up of frame and space), (sold- commission)

“Enduring Grace”’s new owners, Terry & Tom, chose a photo by the talented Tim Timmis as the reference photo for this painting. Tom had seen my work previously and fell in love with “The Nest That Love Built” (2022)- so our goal was to create a painting with a similar feeling. Below, you can see Tim’s beautiful photography. I used this photo and just moved the birds a bit closer together in the painting. I really appreciate when professional photographers give me their blessing to use their photos as reference (which Tim did in this case!).

As you can probably tell, I stepped out of my comfort zone for this painting, and went in a direction that’s different from my typical paintings. I let go of my usual neutral color pallet and I am so happy that it was received so well. In the reference photo, you’ll notice that the background has a darker brown color that emphasizes that beautiful backlighting through the egret’s feathers. To create that same effect in the painting, I needed a color of similar value, and chose to play with the teal color as I found it to be more interesting… and that’s how this major shift came to be! Terry, the new owner, mentioned upon the painting’s delivery that it felt valuable to have something that’s unique from what I normally offer.

I feel so grateful that you trust me to create pieces that you can collect and gift to your most cherished loved ones. This commission felt like such a strong way to kick off 2025, and slowly get back into creating again after the storm. I’m catching up on a couple of additional pieces, and then my commissions should be open again mid-late spring! If you are interested in holding one of those spots, feel free to go to my commissions page to access the waitlist and FAQ’s! I look forward to all of the art & connections I’ll get to make this year. Talk soon! xx