“Healing Waters” is an 11x17” acrylic on recycled canvas painting, and was finished on April 4, 2021.

I was inspired by the quote by Isak Dinesen: “The cure for anything is saltwater; sweat, tears, or the sea.” I let myself “go with the flow” and simply play with blues, moving the paint in different ways, with brushes, my fingers and spraying water to create drips.

I hadn’t painted something like this before and really wanted it to feel soothing and peaceful. I imagined the quiet feeling of floating or swimming in a lake or the ocean, watching light, shadows and shapes flow and waver with the movement of the water. Knowing there’s so much more depth and complexity than you can ever see from the surface.

I keep reminding myself to get in the picture with my finished paintings, because I know it’s not always easy to tell the scale of a work.

I find myself enjoying the peacefulness of painting at night, after the kids are asleep. The day is done and the mental stress of things to do and remember have melted away. I put on some music and it’s my time to simply play.

When I paint at night, I’m not always sure what it will look like in daylight, so even when it feels done, I always wait to see in the morning.

And yeah, she felt complete. 💙