Grieving With Those Who Grieve

Grieving With Those Who Grieve; 2021; 10" x 13"; mixed media: watercolor, acrylic, graphite, crayon. Today I grieve… For women widowed too soon and fatherless children, For victims of senseless violence and those who love them, For children wounded, battling lies embedded before conscious thought, For millions across the world who lack access to healthcare,…Read more Grieving With Those Who Grieve

Just Because You Can’t See It…

Just Because You Can't See It, Doesn't Mean It's Not There; 2021; 12" x 20"; mixed media: watercolor, acrylic, water-soluble pastel, sidewalk chalk. Rising in a mighty crescendo of 14,000 feet above sea level, It was completely shrouded in blustery gray for days on end. "I promise, our own little fourteener is right there!" I…Read more Just Because You Can’t See It…

Becoming…

A collaborative piece in progress, with talented dancer Rachel Quiner as visual inspiration, and talented and beloved song-writer, singer, and daughter-in-law to be Janelle Thompson as musical inspiration... Coming soon with Janelle's beautiful, original worship song based on Isaiah 64:8. Becoming; 2021; 19" x 28"; watercolor & graphite.

Timeless

Wandering in a Winter Forest; 2021; 7.5" x 13'; mixed media: ink, watercolor, gouache, oil pastel, graphite. Grasses arc ochre, under frozen sheen, sparkling like the laughter of my grandma, bowing at her feet. I see her there, at a picnic table, her wisdom words still embedded in black, trusting limbs, still reaching under the…Read more Timeless

Be Bold

Even before 2020, the poorest of the poor in Zimbabwe faced seemingly insurmountable odds. Some of those people, like Linda*, lacking even a home after her husband died, fled to unoccupied stretches of land and constructed mud huts by hand. Even as Linda lost so much, though, she accumulated grandchildren as their parents died or…Read more Be Bold

Take the Next Step

I'd always dreamed of writing a book, a story to give someone hope to take the next step. In 2012, I started writing a fiction manuscript with the humble, first-step challenge to myself: Can I even string enough words together to create a full length manuscript? In thirty minute/day writing sessions, the story accumulated, very…Read more Take the Next Step

One Last Indigo Iris

An indigo iris motif weaves in and out of my fiction manuscript. In words and images, the flower presses it's way into my soul. With this last of four paintings of an indigo iris, I think I finally understand it... At least for today. Indigo Iris (4); 2021; 13" x 16"; mixed media: ink, watercolor,…Read more One Last Indigo Iris

The America I Know and Love…

My son and I drove a broad, open landscape of ranches and winding highway as news headlines erupted: our capital breached by violent rioters. Sporadic cell phone and internet connection prevented us from accessing all but a skeleton of events unfolding on the other side of our nation. And then an all-too-near rumble interrupted our…Read more The America I Know and Love…

ShoutOut Colorado Interview

Please visit the wonderful online publication, ShoutOut Colorado, featuring the people of my home state, Colorado! This interview was originally published in ShoutOut Colorado, December 22, 2020. Hi Colleen, how does your business help the community?We are not alone. I keep stumbling on this theme wherever I go in the world (and strangely, especially among…Read more ShoutOut Colorado Interview