Landscape and Plants

A woman had spotted the bus with her idea of drawing with her designs by taken a picture translated into bright colors.

Some ways I cope with my problems are going to church and singing, enjoying flowers and nature, spending time with my cat--Sassy, and listening to music.

Recovery through dance.

In April 2021, after the pandemic completely flipped my world upside down, I set off on a cross-country road trip in a self-converted 1994 van. In early 2020 I had resigned from my decade-long career as a full-time public school teacher, and to top it all off my family had been dealing with some repressed childhood trauma that came to the surface because of the Me Too movement. When my depression and anxiety reached an all-time high in the year 2020, my experience of van life served as a chance to disconnect my identity from these experiences: to set off toward new horizons and reinvent myself in settings where no one associated me with who I used to be.

My life as an addict was a struggle. Now that I have 22 days sober, I feel like I transformed into a whole new woman! I feel good, and life is great now!

In addiction we struggle in and through the darkness, over sharp and craggy mountains of guilt and doubt and fear, praying and planting wishes for recovery along the way. 18 in all representing life and release from bondage. As we rise above the pain the fog begins to lift, and the wishes that were meant for us begin to grow reaching higher than we ever could imagine until there is not just enough, but there is MORE, and we are everywhere.

The sun will shine after the storm.

Abominable Monster of Shame was an archetype that I met within myself during the self-development and healing work that I did associate with Brene Brown's Shame Resilience curriculum. The symbology and subliminal images within all contain meaning, to support "Daring Greatly" to boldly go where few desire to adventure in. In other words, the internal shadow lands obscured in shame represent a next frontier of exploration and rediscovery.

This is the beauty of how I see my town. Cleveland is not the mistake on the lake, but the beauty of escape.

This is a roadrunner in mixed media, acrylic paint on canvas. The roadrunner is in the desert and can go backwards and forwards almost simultaneously. It is focused on survival but is also playful and creative in its recovery journey.

This picture is the result of a grounding technique and rescue from a severe anxiety attack. I needed to express and encompass a peaceful setting that in some way expressed my journey with God. The rays of the sun were my focus point of promise to a brighter future. The roadway leading from the gate into the distance represents walkway of my faith through my recovery. The greenery speaks of life transitions and growth. The flowers are the upbringing of the joys as I reclaimed my self-worth along my recovery journey.

This relates to my recovery in a way that's amazing. I see myself like a sunset. Peaceful, beautiful, and bright. Sobriety is forever like the water "just for today" I'll light up my life like a sunset.

This art piece resembles my recovery story. Its been a sunny journey for me even though sometimes I can get moody. The water is like my emotions like up and down. The shoreline keeps the difficult emotions at bay.

Recovery is like a radiant rainbow. Filled with colors of guidance, gratitude, and growth, it magnifies!!!

Mountains can symbolize spirituality and strength. My human existence is marked by both mountain and valley moments. Mental health challenges are more manageable when I am engaged in creative endeavors. As an artist, I enjoy using a variety of materials and mixed media. Most recently, I have been exploring how to use wool and the craft of felting to design inspiring images. This 5 x 5 natural fiber painting represents my vision for a healthy, self-actualized, and artistic life.

All of my family struggled with alcohol, addiction and mental illness for many years. I was lost deep in despair and isolation. All in one year my son and my husband began moving to recovery and my daughter the following year. At the same time I found family support programs that saved my life, my sanity and my spirit. The promises of recovery shined brightly through that blackness and drew me forward to peace. 

"Meditative Painting of Northern Lights & Pine Trees": Meditative painting is a practice that activates inspiring energy within & boosts creative confidence. It can be beneficial for anyone looking to expand creative skills and who seek a meditative practice that is imaginative, playful, & healing.

I drew a picture of a plant (without a model).

Climbing the mountain, called recovery, with my partner and fellow poet and peer and enjoying the view the storm left behind.

Palm tree sunrise

This painting is about life and a new beginning through which life will bloom again and not always be dead.

God has really helped me in my mental health journey. Church is a place I go for guidance. This art resembles God helping me out in life

This art resembles my bedroom and where I play my games. My room is my comfort zone and is where I use coping skills such as play with friends, play video games, and watch tv. This really helps me in my mental health journey.

I turn my back from the precipice. Facing a vast forest with a well-worn path I choose to move forward into an unknown journey with a pocket full of anticipation, hope, aspiration, and desire for a bright future ahead while discarding my shackles that held me within my own prison. I chose this path and will walk the walk.

I been in church for 10+ years and it helps me become more spiritual and helps guide me down the right path. It also helps me not doubt myself and keeps me sane in the worst of times.

I have found solace in the transformative power of art. After the unimaginable loss of my precious daughter, Addy, on January 3, 2024, I sought refuge in painting to heal and express the profound emotions that consumed me. One painting holds a profound significance in my heart. I created it the evening before what would have been Addy's 14th birthday is a bittersweet milestone that brought both a surge of love and an overwhelming sense of absence.

Acrylic on canvas. A commissioned piece for 217 recovery, depicting an elegant story of recovery that Corey Winfield had shared with me.

No matter the harshest of winters, come the first hint of spring, the daffodil makes its appearance with hearty shoots heralding rebirth. The daffodil is my symbol of perseverance through the harshest seasons of life; and a fitting metaphor for the fight to break free from the grip of addiction.

There's always a new day - a new start

I would love to have the flowerpot always full of water and fresh flowers! But some days the flowerpot is half empty of water and the flowers have withered away. And then, the seeds get water and sunshine, and it rains, and we return to fuller water and fresh flowers. I search for something in a book or something someone has taught me as a way to do a piece. Lately my sketching has been much more vibrant and fuller, whereas before I would lightly sketch because I was afraid to make mistakes.

Staying clean for 13+ years, I gained my kids in my life, learned to handle my emotions in a healthy way, and I got my family back.

Place of pain. Closed off, suffering mentally from trauma. Drugs and alcohol making it a bit easier for the moment. In recovery from mental health, drugs and alcohol, the world is a beautiful place, full of self-love and acceptance.

These are Hyacinth flowers which symbolize Forgiveness. I have done so many things that I was ashamed of before I quit drinking. This painting symbolizes my life coming full circle. In this painting, I am forgiving myself for what I did when I was not in recovery. It is not fair to hold my past self to the standard that I hold myself today, because she was only trying to survive with the skills that she knew at the time. I am living according to my values now and living a life of integrity.

Art brings me peace. It helps me escape the things going on in my head. Art helps me create a different reality.

This art piece is a beautiful spring art of simple life flowers.

The fallen tree is a metaphor for obstacles that people with addictions or mental health issues face. The colors chosen are warm and rather rich as a reflection of the various personalities which a person with those afflictions have, despite their challenges.

This piece begins in doodles on a page as a middle-schooler. The world is black - white, yes - no, hopeful or hopeless, rock bottom. To the right of that are the tools, brushes and paint (the cans, with labels in purple for recovery awareness, hold MIND, BODY, and HEART), that allows the first step of faith, the belief that things can get better, brighter. As pieces (butterflies) shift free, color, hope, infuses them. I chose to shift black to gray gradient behind the butterflies, because recovery isn't something that ends.

I chose my artwork theme "The Sunrise". To me it represents not just a new beginning, but a awesome beginning. A new resolution to a new me. I suffer from anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. This artwork of mine is a snapshot of my happy place. My inspiration comes from my dad and my children, they give me hope and meaning, also the right kind of attitude to never give up. Every day is a new day and I look forward to my destination, but I constantly keep in my mind that it is about the journey and the people we meet along the way.

A 3'x4' acrylic painting of the layers of life that continually emerge and merge, making us each recall, reflect, and incorporate every stage, allowing every moment to become a meaningful one that allows our vulnerable beauty to show, using nature as the metaphor of our lives in recovery.

Remembering My Mother

This painting is inspired by my personal experience of struggling with bipolar disorder.

The Beauty of recovery