On a hike one winter weekend, I found a dry animal vertebrae in the dirt and picked it up to put in the studio for further inspiration. As it happened, there in the studio was a feather (from a different outdoor excursion) and a dried plant from the yard sticking out of a jar--all of which had been collected over the past weeks and were also awaiting inspiration. The three of them kept catching my eye until I decided to combine them.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was collecting dead items and arranging them into something compelling and beautiful. 

In October of 2019, my mother passed away, and I painted this in the winter of 2020. Looking back, I think it's clear this painting is about that experience of loss and yet feeling grateful for the bittersweet beauty in sharing in her end of life.

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