My Happy Little Trees and Happy Little Leaves series is meant to be whimsical and colorful. I'm exploring color, texture, and line. I'm focusing on the interplay of "positive" and "negative" space as I reflect on my own positive and negative growth experiences from the past few years. I'm using these trees as a form of art therapy to explore living more simply while celebrating nature, color, texture, and line. I want the viewer to feel happy and playful. I want them to be in the moment and feel joy. Life is short and meant to be celebrated. The title is a small tribute to Bob Ross and his "Happy Little Tree"s he would add to his landscapes, I thought his paintings were magical when I was a little girl.

These hearts are from my LOVE Wins Series. As many of you know, I find a lot of inspiration in the teachings and writings of Brene Brown. It was a rough couple of weeks with the election and a rude woman who came to my last art show and made a game of insulting my work, my titles, and encouraged her young daughter to do the same. It was so sad to watch and my heart broke for her as I wondered who had done so much damage to her to make her so broken as a human being.

I've taken comfort more than ever lately in Brene's words and hope they help you too.

“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.

Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.

Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed and rare.”
― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

This little green heart is the last one left in my shop. You can find it for sale here.

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