This series plays with words and ideas. My niece was killed in a horrific car wreck along with her boyfriend who was driving drunk.

When I was a little girl I had a Good News translation of the bible and Psalm 30 verse five reads like this:

God’s anger lasts only a moment, God’s goodness for a lifetime. Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning.

This series of paintings touch upon the mornings of mourning.

Yes, there is joy, but it isn't the joy that flowed through the windows before the mourning. It is not an easy joy, it comes with struggle and commitment to moving forward.

I was not thinking about trees when I was painting, I usually try to feel more than think when I work, but looking on it now, I see a forest and I see trees. I see the seasons changing and I see growth. I see the impact of wind and weather and an imperfect world. I see the possibility of a delicate joy that comes into the mourning.