"Understory"

When I was little, walks in the forest were filled with me looking up and taking in the vastness of the leaf canopy and tangle of intersecting branches. I was much more interested in what was beyond my present place, which was low to the ground and guided by wise, knowing hands. The overstory.

When I returned as a grown up with much more experience and life etched into my mind and body, I found myself constantly drawn to the ground and all the beauty that was at the tips of my boots. Watergrass, tender frills of ferns, myriad types of moss. In the delight of the understory, I found hope and beauty for my own understory lived out each day as a woman, artist, wife, and mother.

6x6, painting created on site (plein aire) using paper collage and oil on masonite panel.  Displayed in a black, contemporary, floater frame.  Wired and ready to hang.