40"x40" acrylic on canvas, 2023
 
Kate Bowler writes in The Lives We Actually Have, “In the midst of grief and loss, fear and longing, gratitude and sweet remembrance, and so much exhaustion... Grant me enough solitude for solace, and company enough for comfort.” Remembrance is what arises in the quiet moments, in the memories that take on new meanings, in the relationships that abandon or sustain us through our lives. How natural, the inclination to retreat within during times of transition – like a caterpillar tucking itself into a cocoon and completely dissolving into substance before solidifying, forming wings, and taking flight. This canvas in its warm amber hues celebrates the invitation of light beyond darkness. In the details, singular steps – each next right step – create pathways that are rarely linear. Life is a remembering – who we have always been, who we are meant to be, who we are… We remember we are the same, we are connected. May this remembrance allow the sun to persist in its illumination, each being to emerge from their cocooning.