The Finding Place Collection
Discovering ordinary things and making them extraordinary works of art.
It is my delight to share with you some of my finding place treasures. Items my family and I have collected and I have transformed into works of art. It is not even just about the treasure painted. It is about the berries and pigment rocks found first to create the paint that each painting is created with. The walnut seeds from Tuscany. The vibrant berries found in our local roman park to make dies with. The pigment rocks my child foraged for me to uses in each painting.
Then the subject itself. A lot of those finding are still in my studio. Displayed for everyone to see. Porcupine needles, branches our butterflies lived on. So many dried flowers, that have carried themselves through this collection with vibrancy and memories for days.
Observe each painting carefully, because each one from before a brush stock took place to the very last one. A moment in my finding place has been shared with the deepest of care and largest smile.
The Finding Place Collection
Sometimes you have to get close. The beauty just draws you in. You can feel the intensity of the colors and yet your body feels a sense of peace and tranquility. It is rejuvenating. You start to breathe again. Those moments become marks on your heart. People, nature, culture, food, smells or even the simplicity of the sound of rain.
These hellebore are all over Ireland. I remember when I first saw them, I thought ‘I want to paint you.’ I knew I couldn’t do justice to the beauty. But I wanted to try on raw canvas. Because in those moments of encountering nature, beauty, I was raw, looking for space to breathe in new air. I thank the Lord for those moments. Where rawness and peace flooded my inner self with such kindness and gentleness. I think of them often.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including pigment made watercolor and ink on raw canvas
Size: 14” x 14” canvas
*Frame is not included, but I would love to help you find the perfect frame that fits the artwork and your style.
Nature's treasure provokes a deep joy inside of you. Something that smiles at the sight of a beautiful shell or a pigment rock just waiting to make its color known. Things that make you happy when your eyes lock on it, it creates space for warmth inside your entire being. It makes a mark on you. That treasure creates a new memory, one you like to visit often. Sometimes those treasures can even alter the course of your next steps.
Each one of these items were hand picked, with gentle care. Each one is still on display in my studio. I visit them often to remember, be present, look around and see what treasures are waiting for you.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including hand-made pigment, watercolor, coffee filters, & ink
Size: 12” x 16” canvas with a beautifully deep profile of 1.4”
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
Pyrrole Orange comes alive. There is a sweetness to it and yet a bit that will catch you off guard. When something so normal makes you smile so big. Yes, it’s an onion, and the way the orange and purple dance together make it like a powerful dance. Sometimes we are so used to our normal enjoyments of life, we miss something so different and colorful. We have our likes and dislikes. Our things that taste good and don’t. But what if something new enters our finding place. Something that catches us off guard and make us crave more. We are taught, almost subconsciously, that onions are white, eggplants are purple. What happens when we spot some purple on that white onion. What happens when something we think is ordinary all of a sudden catches the corner of our eye. We are caught in a place of curiosity and a grin starts to form. Where we reach out and collect something that others just pass by. We look around and think yep, its mine. We create a new pattern of thinking in our minds. Something new with roots has already taken place. So we dust off that item, name it our treasure and walk away with a new spark in our hearts and in our eyes. We might even think, I think I just came alive again.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including pigment made watercolor and inks on coffee filters
Size: 9.5” x 7” canvas
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
In a split second they fill the fields with color and wonder. The wind russells through them as if they are making music. Children run after them and try to pick them all as if little pieces of gold have just sprouted up from the earth. They make a little girl giddy as she wears them like a crown and a little boy feel proud as he rushes to his mother's side saying mommy, I have something special for you.
So I place them all in my basket, dry them with the hopes of never losing what we found in our finding place that day.
Ordinary things, because treasures we can live without. Things that other people may pass by, but for us will hold moments of beauty, rawness and giggles forever.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including pigment made watercolor and inks on coffee filters
Size: 8” x 8” canvas
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
In a split second they fill the fields with color and wonder. The wind russells through them as if they are making music. Children run after them and try to pick them all as if little pieces of gold have just sprouted up from the earth. They make a little girl giddy as she wears them like a crown and a little boy feel proud as he rushes to his mother's side saying mommy, I have something special for you.
So I place them all in my basket, dry them with the hopes of never losing what we found in our finding place that day.
Ordinary things, because treasures we can live without. Things that other people may pass by, but for us will hold moments of beauty, rawness and giggles forever.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including pigment made watercolor and inks on coffee filters
Size: 8” x 8” canvas
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
There is something about watching a garden grow. From seed, to sprout to a mature plant. The Process does not end there. The drying out piece is very important for garlic. Its color changes, it becomes shaggy with dead paper-like skin. All for a small piece of something very powerful.The inner growth and strength that takes place is actually the star of the show.
This painting makes me smile, it is wild and free. It holds many small treasures and strengths. It reminds me to invest in the inner goodness my soul carries. To not be afraid to get dirty and pull back layers of the person I was meant to be.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including hand-made pigment, watercolor, coffee filters, & ink
Size: 12” x 16” canvas with a beautifully deep profile of 1.4”
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
Sometimes you have to get close. The beauty just draws you in. You can feel the intensity of the colors and yet your body feels a sense of peace and tranquility. It is rejuvenating. You start to breathe again. Those moments become marks on your heart. People, nature, culture, food, smells or even the simplicity of the sound of rain.
These hellebore are all over Ireland. I remember when I first saw them, I thought ‘I want to paint you.’ I knew I couldn’t do justice to the beauty. But I wanted to try on raw canvas. Because in those moments of encountering nature, beauty, I was raw, looking for space to breathe in new air. I thank the Lord for those moments. Where rawness and peace flooded my inner self with such kindness and gentleness. I think of them often.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including hand-made pigment, watercolor and ink on raw canvas
Size: 14” x 8” on raw canvas
*Frame is not included, but I would love to help you find the perfect frame that fits the artwork and your style.
Beauty is not subjected to our standards. The growth or life of beauty is not in our hands to control. It submits itself in the hands of the holder but knows its value in the eyes of the creator.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including hand-made pigment, watercolor and ink on raw canvas
Size: 19” x 15” on raw canvas
*Frame is not included, but I would love to help you find the perfect frame that fits the artwork and your style.
The beauty of what goes into a painting goes far beyond what you can see. The pigment rocks collected by my family. The onion skins, walnuts and avocados seeds collected and transformed into dyes. The coffee filters that were shared with friends. My dear friend who let me explore her garden last summer and collect different wonders from it.
The finding place is taking all these pieces and foraging them into something even greater than itself. This is what our finding place offers us. Space to see and be, to collect and give back. Space to learn how to stay caught in the wonder and magic of exploring.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including pigment made watercolor and inks on coffee filters
Size: 8” x 8” canvas
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
We expect things to go perfect, no mess up, no issues. Sometimes life surprises us. It is not always bad, but can throw us off. Until… It brings a smile and we see the not-so-perfect life as one of the biggest blessings.
My kids grew butterflies this past spring. Caterpillars, to the chrysalis, to butterflies. One day my daughter said oh no it is hurt. One of the wings did not develop all the way. So my children made a home for it, talked to it everyday and made sure it had plenty of food. My son said, “its ok, I will be your friend.” At that moment, I thought ‘can the imperfections of life be our biggest blessings?’ Can we change our thinking to see differently? To embrace what we have labeled not perfect and to see a treasure instead.
My kids and even my husband and I checked on that butterfly everyday. Until one day it was gone, My kids were so bummed, but we hoped for the best, maybe it finally took flight. Maybe it found some new friends. Letting go can feel hard, and yet the gift for imperfection for no matter how long, was one of life's treasures for us.
Production details
Mixed medium materials including hand-made pigment, watercolor, coffee filters, & ink
Size: 12” x 16” canvas
Ready to hang with coffee filters wrapped around the edges
Gift Wrapping included
