12x20. I pulled paint colors yesterday that reminded me of my sister. Far more earth-toned and grounded than I would go for. Lots of depth, contrast, and surprises. My sister, Lisa, oversees a government agency that manages international resources for the Great Lakes. She’s a badass and genius. Early in her career, she lived in the UP of Michigan.

Some of my sharpest, best, brightest memories with my family are of those years when my dad was still here and we would visit. Especially Lake Superior in the fall. We’d drink and sit by bonfires and play Super Nintendo. Lake Superior is by far my favorite Great Lake. You can see straight on the bottom in 100+ ft deep water. It’s the coldest too and freezes solid.

I always thought my sister would think my art was dumb, or small, or just some whimsical bullshit.

But she has become one of my most powerful and enthusiastic supporters. Her belief in me grounds my belief in myself. She laughed at me yesterday that I’m about to be very rich and famous and I just cried into my pizza when I read that. Because she’s not one to humor me.

This is one of my favorite pieces I have ever created because to me it is so different from the rest. I see so much of her brilliance within the contrast, and a grounding I don’t possess. She doesn’t Instagram and will never see this. But I feel very lucky for her, and for our time spent together as a family in the UP, when we thought it would always be that way and took it for ⁣granted. In this canvas, I feel like I captured what those years felt like.