30”x36" acrylic on canvas, 2025
 
Kindred seekers and poets alike know what alchemy it is “to wander longingly through the forest in search of mystery.” I too take to the trees alone with my thoughts or in slow-paced conversation with others — finding companionship, answers, and solace. Whether earthing or forest-bathing or fairy-seeking, the shifted perspective there among the trees — outward, downward, and most notably upward — is its own kind of magic. Werifesteria resonates with those who nod knowingly, breathing a gentle “yes” to the experience of wandering longingly, searching for mystery, permeated by energy, where symbiosis creates the purest air our human bodies can receive. It is easy to believe one would find mystery there where invisible roots weave a web of support, and steady communities of trunks withstand the wind, and the branches renew and release in their cyclical rhythms season after season.
 
This canvas honors patches of light and shadow, the unexpected blooming among the moss, and the sacred vibration of all that is unseen. This piece is a modest nod to our curiosity, our humility, and the quiet experience of external exploration to unearth the mystical within.
 
The poet Martha Postlewaite writes poignantly, “Do not try to save / the whole world / or do anything grandiose. / Instead, create / a clearing / in the dense forest / of your life / and wait there / patiently, / until the song / that is yours alone to sing / falls into your own cupped hands / and you recognize and greet it. / Only then will you know / how to give yourself / to this world so worthy of rescue.”
 
This piece celebrates our inner-journey through metaphor, using imagery to conjure our connectedness with nature and the magnificence of immersion in wooded surroundings. In this painting, muted yellow and white light intersperse with glimpses of blue sky through an umbrella of fauna and bark. The marks, forms, and palette within this piece convey both density and its clearings, where we can receive the song of ourselves longingly, kindly. May we recognize our heartsong as a thing of value within the world, releasing it as the trees do their leaves, offering its beauty and uniqueness as a part of the broader mystery.