I am grateful and humbled by the connections that people make to my work. I have been told several times that people feel a connection to “A Different Perch.”

The idea for the work was like a gift. I was watching the cardinals outside my window in the spring.  The birds, to me, are God’s reminder to me that he will continue to protect me and my family as I work to establish my art career. The painting sprang into my mind one afternoon.  I made a study of a flute, and then I painted the flute with the North Carolina state bird, the cardinal, later that month.  I meant it to represent my North Carolina roots.  I was a North Carolina bird trying to sing sweetly on a "different perch."


Last week, I spoke at the Million Cups entrepreneur event in at the Anderson Economic Development office. I brought my original artwork with me to help my audience understand what I was doing. I was humbled and moved when a woman came to meet me after I spoke. She told me that the cardinal represented departed souls.  She said that she was a flute player, and that the final time that she was able to play for her dad was at his funeral.  

Sometimes we do the work but we don’t know the entire story, or exactly why we hope to do what we do.  Sometimes there are plans and meanings and stories much larger than ourselves, and we see only a tiny piece of the larger plan.  I am grateful that  I have the opportunity to make these connections though my work and I hope that I can continue to show pieces that resonate powerfully with my audience.