Blooming in Her Season : Art Preparation for Live Painting

Blooming in Her Season, live painting, was spectacular and fast paced.

There was so much ideation, planning and preparing that went into the work, well before the luncheon.

I am so grateful to have received full confidence, freedom, and free-reign to create this work.

I developed two renderings on paper for me to know exactly the concept I wanted to convey.

I wanted the finished piece to reflect all the women in the room—their shared experiences, and emphasize the message that we don’t have to go through tough times alone.

I knew I had a short window to paint—approximately 50 minutes.

And the painting reveal was directly related to the colors and answers given during the reception.

I wanted the colors to translate into women, loving and supporting one another, no longer carrying the weight of perinatal mental health alone.

I sketched the idea onto the canvas and painted the base layers of the work, completing the sky and setting the first layer of the water.

As the reception began, I prepared and mixed the colors to match the rose petals used in the activity.

Once the luncheon began, I got to work, painting the women as a reflection of the rose petals placed in the vases.

One of the key purposes of the luncheon, was providing awareness and recognition that: help is available, we are not alone in our experiences, and we don’t have to feel guilt or shame about it.

The luncheon, the women present, and the message was beautiful.

And I am so deeply honored to play a role in communicating and commemorating that message.

The colors represented each person’s experience dealing with perinatal mental health.

Many of us in the room had shared experiences as well as, completely different experiences. However, together, no matter how heavy or challenging those experiences may have been, there’s power, resilence and beauty when we walk through those challenges together.