"Grace," a solo exhibition of recent acrylic paintings, is inspired by my personal search for hope after losing two very special people in my life to cancer (my sister, Kerry, and my "adopted little sister," Kayleigh) and by the moments of grace which brought healing and revelation. Although based on very personal, specific moments, my wish is that these paintings can convey the hope that is available to us all, even amidst the darkness and devastation of grief.

Some pieces show everyday moments that became infused with meaning and beauty by the experience of loss. Other paintings communicate the incredible capacity we each have for self re-creation, for healing, for profound connection. Certain pieces depict moments where I have felt that there was a grace at work in my life — moments of wonderful coincidence, of insight or intervention.

These paintings include significant landscapes — many of them on the threshold between water and land, sky and sea — that suggest the threshold between this world and the next. The figures in the paintings are friends and family. While most of these figures represent those individuals in the midst of their own personal journey, many of them, particularly the solitary female figures, can also be seen as "self-portraits," as figures that mirror my own experience. Light, ever-present in my paintings, is an expression of blessing, of reassurance, of love, of grace.