This was supposed to be the first painting I completed without adding any other media besides acrylic paint. I wanted to prove to myself that I still had what it took to create something without gluing something else down to it. I was working on other pieces at the same time and I got lost with this one. Then my hands gravitated back to my jars of Golden gel mediums, and my pile of found objects and other bits and pieces of who-knows-what. I guess I'm addicted to collage.

As I look at this painting now, it is very much like my life has been since I first started it - incomplete, indecisive, dark, moody, barren. But I am not suffering unbearably, nor do I feel it is a negative place to be because I live with hope. It is just as life is - there are those moments of pain, and moments of joy, and as I balance these moments I keep my head focused on positive thoughts.

My original idea was to create a pathway to the center of the trees and have it cluttered with rocks. Now I'm not so sure what I'll do with it.I started it in May of 2007 and packed it away for my big move from Michigan to Portland in June. I have not been able to go near it since. It was recently stolen from behind my dresser by my mother, and is now hanging on her living-room wall. I cringe every time I walk past it because I know its unfinished. But as with things in my life, I see hope when I look at this piece. I just have to make it through the trees.