Acrylic on Wood Panel, Brazilian Rosewood, Stained Glass,
Acrylic Glass, Aluminum Channeling
 
41 3/4"x 41 3/4"

Same Storm marked my entrance into the professional art world. Painted with a palette knife on wood panel, it was the first work where I pushed beyond the surface and began to see framing as part of the artwork itself. I designed and built a custom frame of Brazilian rosewood and aluminum channeling, incorporating stained glass by Alan Hargrave. Prisms set into the glass bend light into refracted rainbows, sealing the piece with a quiet insistence that beauty can emerge even through fragility.
 
This work first appeared in my Off the Wall exhibition in Biltmore Village, and it was the connection made through its creation that opened the door to my first studio at Foundation Studios. It stood in the center of that gallery, the prime spot where visitors were drawn to its light. When Hurricane Helene struck, I thought this painting was gone forever. Days later, I found it battered but intact, scuffed and bruised yet still refracting rainbows. Its survival transformed its meaning, echoing the very truth at the heart of its design.
 
Same Storm is an abstract meditation on the shared human condition. The umbrellas within the composition stand for continents, nations, and communities, each distinct in color and form, yet united in their purpose: to shield us from the storm. The storm itself is constant, a metaphor for the cycles of struggle, change, and conflict that touch us all. When we harm one another, when we divide or hoard, we forget that what washes over one inevitably touches us all.
 
This piece asks us to reflect on the invisible borders we build and the responsibilities that transcend them. Our most basic needs are the same, and our survival depends on remembering that we are all caught under the same storm. The question remains: do we stand apart, or do we face it together?