Before painting, the first step in many of my pieces, is to write into the canvas fibers words that will direct my steps and keep the intention of the work clear.

The Dalai Lama summarizes it succinctly and clearly. It is always possible.

With the foundation quote complete, next, rather than drawing out the image on the white canvas, I find it more encouraging to start with a painted canvas. The initial effort of showing up for our curiosities - often the hardest part - has been completed, and now the flow can proceed.

I played with several settings this visual story could take place - mountains, desert, plains - but after visiting Cape Cod this summer with my family and chosen family, I was moved by the vast open sky meeting the immense ocean, their infinite shades of blue, and the lush greens of grass and nature thriving with the first hints of summer. It became the obvious setting for this work.

Knowing I wanted to incorporate Rumi’s three elements - lamp, lifeboat, and ladder - I sketched several combinations before landing on what felt right for me.

Looking at my own family, I see the roles we each take on, how we become one or more of these tools for one another; how these roles shift daily, and extend beyond our family into our community.

a lamp - a source of light, truth and optimism;

a lifeboat - a feeling of safety, protection and comfort;

a ladder - an aid to growth, learning and development.

Laying out the story in paint has become a combo of some initial structure to satisfy my left brain mixed with right brain exploration. Here, I begin to formalize my markings in the phase of the work I call ‘making it clean.’

Working on the ‘clean’ more detailed, meticulous elements of this painting, I noticed some of my past perfectionistic tendencies creeping in. It occurred to me then, that kindness and compassion can point externally but also internally as well; that I can become my own lamp, lifeboat and ladder.

Which of these tools might I reach for, to arm myself with each day, to exhibit kindness and compassion towards others, but also towards myself?

That shift in mindset opened me up to continue forward with feelings of calm, safety and joy.