One of my newest pieces "The Messenger" is about unexpected connection. Not the obvious kind. Not the lifelong friendship, the perfect love story, or the person who stays forever. But the special one off’s that stay with you, maybe a chapter, maybe a day, that is what I wanted this painting to shine light on.

The bird in this piece belongs to higher elevations. The donkey belongs down in the valley, in the Saguaro desert. In real life, their paths would not naturally cross. And yet, in this painting, they meet. The bird arrives with something meant for him. A message. A small interruption that is a gift in disguise.

That is the tenderness of the piece for me. Some of the most important encounters in our lives are not the ones we could have planned. They are the ones that find us anyway, at the exact moment we often needed them.