Legacy

The design team, my mom, and I with custom painting “A Life of Abundance”

12 years since I hugged my 舅舅. 9 years since Eoin stood in the eclipse of those buildings. Never had my children ran through the mouth of a dragon and out a tiger, and always will we remember the excruciating pain of jet lag and the warmth of a new belonging.

I have 8 aunts and uncles and 27 cousins that live in Taiwan and for logistical reasons only saw a fraction of them while we were there. Still I cherish every moment of connection, constant language fumbling, big hugs and shy smiles, a reminder that ours became an achy and brilliant reality when my dad took that job in America with my mom and brother in tow.

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas

Taipei 101

On the last day in Taiwan, I stopped by my latest project, 2 custom paintings for a new luxury high rise in Taichung. What an experience—meeting the team I had been emailing with for the last several months, feeling proud and challenged by maintaining a design conversation in Mandarin, getting the tour, and being sent on our way with a large box of Taiwan’s best treats. To finally have paintings in the place my family is from is the best gift.

Spent 2 weeks in Taiwan and Hong Kong over the holidays with my two kids, Eoin, and my parents and it was overwhelmingly magical.

Collaboration

3 years ago my oldest walked into studio asking to paint. I had a 7x9ft canvas that I wasn’t ready to tackle so I said sure, let’s start here. For a bit of time we were lost in his world of color and blobs and no sense of mistakes. Every few months over the next 2 years he’d come in and repeat the process. Never afraid. Always ready.

How “In Bloom” started 3 years ago

A few years later his baby brother entered our lives. It was the newborn phase all over again but with a different perspective on sacrifice and brilliance. “When Light Breaks In”, a series on parenting during the sacred hours between dusk and dawn, came from that time, as did a newfound courage to tackle some giants.

I love that this painting, “In Bloom”, starts with my first and ends with my last, glimpses of my oldest’s wild strokes and color choices peeking through the deep hues on the canvas, a reminder that courage is a choice and that boldness lives in us. In the desert it can seem an impossible place for the living and yet there is thriving through incredible adaptation and transformation for those that call it home, a reminder that we can go through seasons of impossibility and still find belonging and hope ahead.

“In Bloom” | 2025 | 86 1/2 x 118 in

Repurposing

“New Beginnings” was made long after I finished the last of the original collection. I still had such big feelings after finishing the collection last spring so I made 3 larger works continuing the theme of parenting in those delicate and intimate hours between dusk and dawn. All 3 canvases had previous paint strokes on them, art pieces from the past that were dug out of storage and given a new life. My kids have given me so much—so much joy, so much transformation, so many more dreams than I could have imagined. There has been suffering (my sleep bank is constantly teetering on empty) but their brightness in my life is blinding. I am who I have always been and still yet this new being in the making.

“New Beginnings” | 2025 | 40×60 inches

Returning

Back in studio and online and what a time. It can feel weird to talk about art and ask for more support and imagination when the chasm is huge, the grieving deep, and humans—especially those most vulnerable—are not being cared for, and worse, attacked. The pain is unthinkable.

It can be hard to not feel consumed by the sinking emotions and wonder why art. And yet art is a portal where wonder, joy, sorrow, curiosity, imagination, suffering and hope can all live, wrestle, and transform. Creating art has forever changed me and watching people project their creative voice gives me sacred pause. It is a balm that can keep us moving, creating, growing, and hoping for something more.

Sabbatical

My sabbatical has evolved a bit since I started it in 2023. At first it was a complete detox, and then it became a space for my suppressed hobbies (👋🏼 crafting for kids parties) and this year it was a work sabbatical—meaning I worked lol.

Note taking and planning

I worked on all the things that are hard for me to make time typically for because yes, painting is the necessary element in my business and also the ultimate procrastination activity.

So I took workshops on marketing and business, I traveled and gathered inspiration, I made and filled out multiple calendars, I caught up on some shows (from the upside down to Paris), and I dreamt about a different kind of year.

My two boys enjoying the Hong Kong skyline

Just because I took the time doesn’t mean it was “perfect”. I made some plans, but now comes the harder part—following through! I learned so much in a short amount of time, but now I have to remember what I learned and use it! Mostly just grateful to make the time every year to create a different space of growth, challenge, and rest.

What would be on your sabbatical to do list?