20"x16" acrylic on canvas, 2018
 
When things are tempered, their resiliency is improved by heating - neutralized and balanced through a process of metamorphosis. This small piece plays with the broad theme of this process which precedes the bloom into being. We plant tiny seeds and harvest only after enough warmth softens the soil. We field and sometimes yield to the hot nudge of intuition more naturally ignored. Things percolate in our minds and in our bodies, until the right fundamental force comes along and activates us, changes our chemistry, alters our experience. In yoga these forces are known as the gunas - and it is tapas that brings the heat that energizes us towards change. After college I moved to a studio apartment in NYC and began making my own meals on a modest budget… Simmering sauce or soup provided food for days, while I myself simmered through a rich time of relationship and career consideration… To simmer is to supply a foundation of consistent and steady energy, applied to transform raw ingredients into that which nourishes us. The warm palette of reds and oranges are like a phoenix from flame, scaffolded below a perceived horizon, framed by the grey of uncertainty, yet surrounded by the golden glimmers of possibility. Freeform etching suggests the untidiness of what we experience above the surface - an iceberg-like reminder that so much truly remains unseen. The intentional etching towards the bottom left brings in the botanical cue of ivy, which grows upward, establishing itself well with longevity, and whose medicinal properties improve the ability to breathe.