BiG FEELS
A series about unshaming our grief, anger, and longing.
Paintings for moments of emotional overflow where your feelings have no where else to go but to be seen and held with love.
This April, I hit a rough patch. Seasonal depression was lingering, I'd received a string of rejections from art submissions and was feeling down. I bought myself some tulips as a reminder that spring is coming, and then, on a whim, I started painting them.
Then, I couldn’t stop.
I kept things loose and playful as a way of connecting to my inner-child – the part of myself who was hurting. I drew with my non-dominant hand, painted with thick swathes of color and worked with fast-drying crayons and acrylic paint to help keep me in the present moment.
As I iterated on the tulips again and again, my disappointment and grief slowly softened. I was having so much fun, I expanded beyond flowers to paint a few recent screenshots of memes that matched my mood — Hallie/Annie from the Parent Trap’s buoyant optimism and Kat from 10 Things I Hate About You’s unapologetic fury.
Best of all: I enjoyed myself and the process.
The Story of Big Feels
A practice in finding appreciation for what’s present now — the good and the bad both have beauty for us to discover if we’re only willing to pause and see.
Acrylic paint on 9” x 12” canvas panel
Optional add-on of white, wooden float frame (not-pictured) wired and ready to hang
Tax, shipping, and full insurance coverage included
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10% of all sales from BIG FEELS will be donated to The Trevor Project, an organization committed to preventing suicide & providing mental health care to LGBTQ+ youth.