Size: 24" x 36" x 1.5"

Medium: Oil on canvas

Description: Being out in nature is what stills my soul and renews my perspective, especially in the bleaker winter months. This local scene from a walk is an attempt to capture that feeling of being renewed and repositioned with my relationship with self, others, and this world.

Size: 16" x 20"

Medium: Oil on canvas

Description: When I spoke with Kristen about her journey as a parent of a child with special needs, I was struck by how well the members of her family complement one other. Kristen has a background as a social worker and has unique gifting that is required for her daughter with Autism to learn the skills that can be challenging- like reading social cues. As she told stories of their life together, it became apparent that her husband and other daughter also have unique ways of being in the world that are complementary to the family as a whole.

My paintings are most often landscapes or cityscapes with the garden as a recurring theme. I wanted to represent the Sanken family by portraying a garden of companion plantings. Companion plants are plants that complement one another in terms of growth and production. One of these plants might attract an insect that is beneficial to the other plant, or one plant might need very little of a nutrient that the other needs a lot of, so they are not in competition with one another. Another way companion plants benefit each other is by literally supporting one another. For example, a sunflower can grow tall and strong and provide a support for climbing plants like peas to climb. This particular companion group is made up of peas- which symbolize gratitude and loyalty, oregano- which represents joy and happiness, nasturtiums-which stand for love and strength, and marigolds- which mark the power and strength of the sun and the drive to be a light to others.

Size: 20" x 16"

Medium: Oil on canvas

Description: When I first met Faith and Bruno, they taught me that it's important to understand adoption begins in loss. In the beginning of their journey, they fully committed to coming alongside a child in foster care to give whatever support the child and their birth family might need. The best thing in the situation turned out to be adoption, and it's obvious their relationship with their daughter fills them with great joy. They are strong advocates for the community as a whole coming alongside the foster care system. We should be lending support to everyone involved-child, birth family, and foster or adoptive family-and all must be treated with dignity and care. Navigating all these tensions and relationships can be challenging and requires great discernment and sensitivity. It can feel unsettling at times, much like the ocean waves. I chose a seascape to represent their journey because while storms come and go, the healing power of the sun and sand and the joy of finding the new life that the waves bring in can empower and renew us to keep up the good work of loving one another.