For the month of November 2024, I was doing an artists residency art the Arteles Creative Center in Hämeenkyrö, Finland. When I arrived, I was in great need of respite and the freedom to create undisturbed. My first week was spent exploring all that I could in the woods all around the grounds. Slowly, slowly I began to unwind and the paintings began to flow. I kept the subject of my work, my muse Elanora, but her experiences in my paintings included everything about the beauty of Finland and the things that happened there, which included the grounds, the sauna, the forest, the mushrooms…. oh the mushrooms, the aurora borealis, the snow, and the magpie who tapped on my window nearly every morning. I painted for hours and hours, days and days, and it was pure bliss.

I am renewed, and seeing my life through a new lens now. I am forever grateful for my time spent at Arteles.