24x24 Resin Coated - Acrylic/ Glitter/ Art Resin. Ready to hang. 

It’s taken a lot of life and contrast to know I’m experiencing joy in the same moment that it’s happening. Like learning everything in the dark before the lights can come on. Joy ranges from the warm and centered feeling of my puppies sleeping next to me, or my cat fluffed up in my lap, also asleep. Then to the opposite end of the spectrum -  the ecstatic shock of jumping head first into a wave in the ocean. This can be freezing, and kind of painful, but all of the senses seem to meld together. In those moments, it’s like I get to leave my body entirely.

 I made the art representing joy darker, and more defiant than the rest, because being at peace with joy, at least for me, has taken a great deal of courage. How willing am I to see what is perfect about the moment instead of what I am perceiving as missing or negative? How much color can I see the world in, vs how much is waiting for me to find it?