As I painted my first collection, I asked some sweet friends to chat with me about what solace meant to them. For me, solace is the place where we are calm, even in the midst of the chaos, where we find beauty in the brokeness and joy in the sadness. I loved painting these places of solace, and I hope you feel peace when you see them.
“When considering what solace meant to me, I ventured down a few mental roads. As I was outside, laughing at my dogs I realized I found solace in experiencing their joy. When I stepped onto my yoga mat and took my first ujjayi breath, I found solace there. When I opened up my book I’ve been reading and jumped back into Brooklyn in 1930, I was comforted. When I would walk around New York City with nothing but my headphones playing music, I found solace. When I was a kid and I would play in the woods with just my dogs, I found solace there. I considered all of these moments, all of these instances and how seemingly different they are in their action but one thing they have in common is the one thing in which I realized I found solace: being with myself in the moment. See, it has nothing to do with outward quiet or chaos, it’s when I turn to myself, when I can do nothing but focus on the moment that I’m in that solace comes for me. It’s shutting down the outside world and living in the second by second, not worrying about what’s to come or fretting about what has happened (truly neither exists) and living in the second I’m in. That’s where solace is for me. Solace is the peace I find in me when I allow myself to just be.”
