The final installment of the Connected Collection is here! Inspired by a deep connection to nature, these nine paintings illustrate the elemental pieces that work together to bring us life. From the gorgeous sun-filled skies, to the depths of life beneath our feet. Each part comes together to create a whole.

The paintings in this collection are named after lines in my own poetry that you can read below. These poems helped me dig deeper to more eloquently describe the feelings I feel when I painted this collection.

My mind gets quiet when my hands get dirty.

All the noise becomes irrelevant and white. 

When dirt gets up to my elbows,

  On my brow,

In my hair,

   And in the wrinkles of my knees, 

There is jubilant silence. 

That’s when I remember 

   Deep in my soul.

Simple and true. 

Exactly as I am. 

Here.

Now.

This version of me.

I remember, 

   I belong here. 

And nothing else matters.

The only prayer I pray

    is walking barefoot through the gardens in the morning. 

The cool dew stands on the tips of clover waiting to kiss my skin. 

The sun peeks through the trees to greet my face as it starts the day. 

My mind and mouth say nothing at all.

But my body, 

   my body moves in rhythm and time with the earth.

Each step a spell. 

Each breath a love song.

I watch each bee wake up in her own way. 

Some ready and working

     some reluctant to greet the day

     stretching and yawning as I marvel at them. 

I notice new leaves and blooms. 

I see bites in the apple tree from the doe

     and piles of free fertilizer from the bunnies who escaped the hawks and foxes last night. 

Birdsong fills my ears so full it pours out through my soul. 

I breathe and see and feel and hear and say nothing at all. 

This is how I give thanks to the earth, stars and sun.