Holding On and Letting Go
2025
For the past few weeks I have been working on a new series of bittersweet black and white images called "Holding On and Letting Go."
Having just sent my daughter off to her freshman year of college two weeks ago and my son to his college senior year, returning home to a now empty nest marks a new chapter in all of our lives.
When my son moved 1500 miles away for school in 2022, I was unexpectedly shaken to the core. I was still under the weight of my decade+ creative block so I did not have access to a therapeutic art practice to help get me through the loss of my 19 year role as a hands-on mother. I was struck by an overwhelming grief at the passage of time. It was a painful introspective process, but after re-dedicating my life to my art in 2023, I worked very hard to redirect all the creative energy I had once poured into motherhood into my own self-expression, and re-established myself as a working artist.
Now that my daughter is three hours away in another state, I find that I am better prepared this time to handle the transition. Though there is now a void in my home with the physical absence of my kids, a void in the calendar without a zillion activities to manage and even a void in the refrigerator no longer stuffed with food for a family of four, I find myself easing into an expansive new autonomy.
I am now striking a healthier balance between time spent working on my art, time spent working on my health and time in nature with the only thing that feels real and true in this artificial age. Intuitively, that feels like something I can hold onto; a lifeline pulling me forward in these uncertain times.
Purchase Limited Edition Prints
