When I started contemplating the subject of a series of paintings, a lot of ugly feelings came up. Those of you who know me well know that I’ve recently gone through a painful transition in my professional life. I came to the end of a road I’ve been on my entire adult life, and suddenly & unexpectedly I had no idea where to go. There are lots of journey metaphors here, none of them particularly positive—burned bridges and salted earth. But in the eternal words of Lizzo: “if he don’t love you anymore/just walk your fine ass out that door.” No one wants to look at a bunch of ugly feelings paintings, and neither do I.
As I started to reflect on the reality of my experience I realized that everything that should have been ugly…just wasn’t. One morning, I sobbed while my husband held me and noticed that the sunrise made tiny rainbows in my eyelashes. One afternoon, I looked up expecting the Green Mountains to be brown, and instead found that they were an indescribable brilliant blue. And one evening I realized that I no longer resented the runny noses of my children; I was finally content to snuggle their warm feverish skin because I had no other place to be. Through these revelations the series Mud Season was conceived.
This series is an ode to the hardest parts of a journey. The lived experience of these challenges can often feel painful, but profound power is accessed in the act of overcoming hardship. “Mud Season” for those of us who live in Vermont, is what we call that ugly time of the year between bright white winters and fresh green springs—the liminal, the transition, the waiting. I hope this series helps you to remember that even on the most difficult of journeys, beauty is everywhere.
The series includes oil paintings as well as works on paper. All pieces incorporate some hand-made earth pigment paints in a color that I've named "uprooted." This paint was made from soil collected from around the root system of a large tree that fell during a harsh storm. The inclusion of this pigment reinforces the link between place and process that is central to all my work, and felt particularly poignant for a series concerning difficult change. This earth pigment is combined with traditionally manufactured paints in order to celebrate the vibrant colors of the natural world.
Original works will be available for purchase sometime in mid-late March. Between now and then, please like, share, and comment to show your support--it really does help as I work to build this new platform for my artistic energies. I hope you enjoy Mud Season and that it feels familiar to you, as you have walked this path with me. Thank you for being an essential part of this story.
--Mira
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