Ebb & Flow will be my biggest release to date, and my first collection in the new studio!

When I started these paintings back in January, my studio was pretty barebones. (You can read more about our move to Wilmington here.) But slowly, the paintings and the studio grew together until both were humming along happily!

With a background in journalism, I often start a collection with a bit of observation and research. So I started with my new surroundings.

I noticed the teeny, tiny seashells that collect along the edge of sandbars; the lush vegetation all along the Intracoastal Waterway; and the ever-changing tide on each adventure.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “Tides are very long-period waves that move through the ocean in response to the forces exerted by the moon and sea.” The tide rises in a flood (flow) current and falls in an ebb current.

Ebb & Flow came to feel like an embodiment for my creative process with its ups and downs. I’m often chasing a particular “flow” in my work. I glimpse it, experience it for a moment and then I’m trying to get to that “flow” again.

As I painted, I also explored:

• Light, particularly it’s interaction with water.

• Color, incorporating different hues and color combinations.

• Materials, bringing my surroundings into my work by using seashells as painting tools.

And over the course of four months, 15 paintings came to line my studio walls. Paintings that are currently getting varnished and wired, so they are ready for their release with Liza Pruitt on May 24.

I am immensely proud of this work. With each and every painting I’m always striving to create my best work yet, but this collection feels like a true piece of my soul. I poured so much love into this collection over early mornings, nights and weekends, in the hope that each painting brings peace and light to the spaces they adorn among the everyday Ebb & Flow of life.