For my friends Melody and Phoenix

I created this painting/drawing in 2001, during a time of much change, when I was yearning for a rebirth… of some kind, any kind…

I remember how I felt as it flowed from my hands onto the paper; and since then, I have had several friends share with me what they see in the painting.

For myself, it meant rebirth, the wish to retreat, the wish to start over, the wish to find light.

When one of my friends (we’ve known each other for over 30 years) bought the painting, he  – very passionately – told me: “I love this painting because it reminds me of myself and my life! I feel like a phoenix, rising from the ashes of my past mistakes. My life has turned around in recent years in ways that I could not have even imagined, and this painting will hang in my house to remind me every day that anything is possible!”

I was touched beyond words by his affection and enthusiasm, and his joy.

I also learned that even in my dark moments, I needed to share what was inside of me. It seems both joy and pain can bring forth beauty, and our pain can inspire and instigate someone else’s joy in ways we may not have anticipated.

As we come and go, things shift and change, and friends appear and reappear, as our companions and guides.

This beautiful, magical world is one enormously vivid dream.