Original Artwork, 8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025 

In "The Way She Looks at Love," a woman cradles a red hen close to her heart. Her gaze is soft, steady—full of affection. This painting is a quiet reminder that love is meant to be felt, held close, and seen. It speaks to the beauty of tenderness, showing softness is not weakness, and that vulnerability isn’t a flaw, but a form of courage.

Thank you for being here — Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Ruelle; The Other Side)

"The Owl Keeper"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

Original Artwork, 8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

In The Owl Keeper, a woman in a rust-colored dress adorned with pearl earrings and a matching necklace stands poised and timeless. Her black hair is swept into a classic updo, and her expression is calm yet commanding as she gazes directly at the viewer. Perched delicately on her finger is an owl, content and serene, looking off into the distance. Behind her, rust and peach-toned floral wallpaper softly echoes the hues of her dress, blending her into the space as if she belongs wholly to it.

This painting was inspired by the extraordinary winter irruption of 2025, when Duluth became a haven for owls migrating south from Canada in search of food. Boreal owls — rarely seen and even more rarely photographed — arrived in an unexpected and remarkable influx, joined by the majestic great gray owls. These rare visitors, driven by a shortage of their primary food source, the vole, offered a haunting, beautiful presence across the snowy landscape.

The Owl Keeper captures that moment in time, blending reverence for nature with the quiet strength of the feminine spirit. The owl, perched with trust, becomes a symbol of mystery, wisdom, and resilience — and the woman, its keeper, a quiet guardian of fleeting, wild beauty.

Thank you for honoring this rare moment with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Billie Holiday; I'll Be Seeing You)

******

"The Dappled Chick"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

Original Artwork, 8" x 10" , Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

In The Dappled Chick, a small yellow chick stands alone on a green and white checkered floor that fades and blurs as it stretches into the distance. The floor feels both grounded and dreamlike — a place where reality begins to slip into something more surreal. The chick itself is strikingly lifelike, with delicate features and soft down, but what draws the eye is the unexpected: a patch of white with green spots across its back and wing area. It’s as if part of its shell still clings to it — or as if something more mysterious has marked it as different.

This piece invites quiet reflection. It’s a tender meditation on becoming — that in-between space where innocence meets individuality. The dappled markings suggest something still forming, still unfolding — a chick not just newly hatched, but newly seen.

The Dappled Chick speaks to the beauty of uniqueness, of carrying traces of where we’ve been while stepping into who we are becoming. It’s about the marks — physical, emotional, symbolic — that we wear as we emerge into the world, and how those differences make us all the more wondrous.

Thank you for stepping into this quiet moment of wonder with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: The Temper Trap; Sweet Disposition)

*****

"Strings of Industry"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025 

In Strings of Industry, the jester returns — no longer dangling, no longer grinning. Now, he sits alone on a stool, surrounded by silence. His painted smile has faded into something far more human: shock, fear, and dawning awareness. His wide eyes stare into nothing, as if haunted by the weight of realization.

Thick strings are still attached to every part of him — his arms, shoulders, spine — evidence of the control that once moved him, or perhaps still does. The room is steeped in eerie stillness. The floor beneath him is a strange, unsettling pink, casting long, distorted shadows. Behind him, a green wood-paneled wall, streaked with age.

Strings of Industry is the reckoning. The marionette, once a figure of blind performance, is now forced to sit with the consequences. It’s no longer just about the manipulation of animals, but the deeper moral cost of an entire system — one driven by greed, wealth, and denial.

This painting asks: When the show is over and the strings are laid bare, what remains? What have we done in the name of convenience, profit, and power? Who have we silenced, caged, and broken — and at what cost?

Both haunting and necessary, Strings of Industry holds a mirror up to those who pull the strings... and invites them to look.

(Music Choice for Creation: The Cure; Lullaby)

"Generation Ears"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

In this piece I am exploring an odd, modern phenomenon—the rise of wearable animal ears across every age, generation, and occasion. I thought about the filter apps too—the ones that gave us ears.

It’s innocent, right? Maybe. Or maybe something else is happening. Are the ears giving us permission to play, or merely just a costume we’ve been sold, and how costume culture is being marketed to us as a form of self-expression, is it a chance to feel a little out of place… or in place, or maybe in wearing them we become what industry wants us to become in the world.

I’m still thinking it through.

(Music Choice for Creation: Melanie Martinez; Dollhouse)

Original Artwork, 8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

"The Woman Who Swallowed a Lemon Seed"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

In The Woman Who Swallowed a Lemon Seed, a woman with short auburn-red hair, vivid green eyes, and pearl earrings gazes thoughtfully off the canvas. She appears composed — yet something unusual blooms just above her: a crown of bright yellow lemons and leafy vines sprouting from her hair. A small green and yellow bird perches gently on her shoulder, as if keeping watch over her quiet transformation. Behind her, wallpaper patterned with leaves and lemons echoes the surreal, botanical wonder of her crown.

This piece grew from a question about what might happen if someone swallowed a lemon seed. From there, it grew into an image that took root.

The Woman Who Swallowed a Lemon Seed is  a visual tale of transformation, where everyday moments give way to the surreal, and where the seeds of thought can turn into something far more alive than we ever imagined.

Thank you for wondering with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Frances; Grow)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on Canvas, 20"x 20"

"The Balloon Watcher"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In The Balloon Watcher, a chicken perches gracefully on the edge of a white clawfoot tub, its gaze fixed on a red-and-white striped hot air balloon floating—impossibly—within the room. The setting is warm and nostalgic: a pink, brown, and white diamond-tiled floor, white and peach tiles lining the lower half of the wall, and above that, a rust-colored paint that bathes the scene as cozy.

It's a quiet moment of curiosity and wonder unfolding in an unexpected place. The chicken, alert and still, seems to be watching more than a balloon. It’s watching possibility.

While it stands alone in its story, The Balloon Watcher gently echoes themes explored in Stay — the tension between groundedness and letting go, between the known world and the dream of rising beyond it. Here, however, there is no departure, no farewell — only the space to watch, wonder, and perhaps imagine what flight might feel like.

This painting invites reflection on stillness, presence, and the longing we all carry — for more freedom, more beauty, or simply a moment of magic in the ordinary. The balloon may never leave the room, but in watching it, the chicken — and we — are already drifting somewhere new.

Thank you for wondering with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Audrey Hepburn;  Moon River)

Original Artwork, 8" x 10" Canvas. Acrylic on Canvas, 2025 

"Reaching for the Sun"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In Reaching for the Sun, a hen moves quietly through a garden as she gazes upward toward a golden sunflower towering above her. Around her, more sunflowers rise from the earth, swaying gently beneath a blue-green sky. There’s a sense of following one’s nature, a deep yearning for freedom, and a belief in something beyond the boundaries we place on the world.

Reaching for the Sun continues the quiet narrative of honoring the lives of chickens — their intelligence, their curiosity, their right to wander through gardens instead of cages. It’s a visual meditation on presence, peace, and the beauty that unfolds when creatures are allowed to live as they were meant to: with dignity, sunlight, and room to grow.

Thank you for seeing this with me – Amy

Music Choice for Creation: Cat Stevens; The Wind

"The Art of Floating"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

A woman in a cheerful yellow one-piece swimsuit reclines on a white-and-yellow floatie, drifting lazily in a turquoise backyard pool. On either side of her, two brown hens enjoy the same summer luxury, each perched on their own floatie, feathers fluffed in the sun. The backyard blooms with green grass and pink flowers, framed by the classic white picket fence.

Artist’s Note:

I painted "The Art of Floating" as a tribute to one of my favorite parts of summer—the return of the inflatables. They turn the backyard into a little vacation, a place where even hens get in on the fun. My chickens adore the seasonal excitement as much as I do, pecking around while floaties bob in the pool.

I've always loved putting inflatables in the backyard. There's something about the sight of them...bright, silly, full of promise (and my hens enjoying all the excitement) that just feels like summer to me. 

This piece captures that lightness, that playfulness, and the gentle art of doing absolutely nothing but enjoying where you are.

(Music Choice for Creation: Manu Chao; Me Gustas Tu)

Acrylic on canvas. 20" x 16"

2025

"She Carried More Than She Knew"

Part of "Portraits from Another Room" collection

She Carried More Than She Knew

A quiet portrait of a woman—holding a chicken in one hand, two eggs in the other, while balancing an apple and grapes atop her head. Set against a richly patterned wallpaper, this piece is a convergence of three collections: a nod to The Nature of Us with its symbolic fruit, Chicken Stories with its tender grasp of the hen and eggs, and Portraits From Another Room with its backdrop.

The woman is a reflection of myself—a visual metaphor for the emotional and creative load carrying at the time. Seen and unseen, held and balanced, offered and protected—this is a painting about the quiet weight of womanhood, artistry, and care.

Music Choice for Creation: Annie Lennox; Why

Original Artwork, 20" x 20"

Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

"High Hopes"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In High Hopes, two hens ride side by side in a small, brown, wicker hot air balloon basket — so full they’re nearly spilling out. Above them rises a whimsically surreal balloon in shades of blue, rust, and gold, patterned with green diamonds and floating upward into a wide blue sky. The scene is lighthearted and dreamlike, a celebration of joy and the unexpected.

This piece radiates optimism and freedom. It captures the kind of moment when anything feels possible — a launch into new heights, whether literal or emotional.

High Hopes is about believing in more. It's about the unlikely dreamers — like two plump hens taking flight — and the idea that no matter where we start, we all deserve the chance to rise. It’s a playful nod to freedom, to friendship, and to lifting each other up, even when the basket is small and the journey uncertain.

It’s a reminder that joy is often found in the unexpected — and sometimes, the best days start with a little lift.

Thank you for soaring with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: American Authors; Best Day of My Life)

Original Artwork, 12" x 12"

Acrylic on Canvas, 2025   

"The Dappled Hen"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In The Dappled Hen, a cream and brown hen stands confidently against a light blue background, her body adorned with bold, unexpected blue spots that stretch across her chest and cover her wing area. A few soft white spots trail toward her tail, fading like echoes of movement or memory. She stands grounded on a rich brown floor, poised and unbothered — fully herself.

This surreal, striking hen seems to carry her story on her feathers. The blue spots feel symbolic — like markings of experience, identity, and perhaps even transformation. She’s both ordinary and extraordinary, familiar and fantastical.

The Dappled Hen celebrates difference — the way we wear our history, our individuality, and our mystery. It’s a visual declaration that beauty doesn't lie in sameness, but in what sets us apart.

There’s something unapologetic in her stance, something quietly powerful. She doesn’t ask to be explained — she simply is.

Thank you for seeing the extraordinary in the everyday – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Natasha Bedingfield; Unwritten)

"Our Pup"

Today I painted a portrait of our pup...and of course, she had to be part of "Chicken Stories." It only felt right. She lives it daily.

(Music Choice for Creation: Harry Belafonte: Jump in the Line)

Acrylic on canvas. 2025

Canvas Size: 16" x 20"

"Chicken Stories Tell Alice" Part of the "Chicken Stories" collection

As night falls, the hens slip softly into the pages of familiar tales, quiet messengers from a world that silences more than it hears.

They carry with them the ache of confinement, a memory that doesn't fade, and a deep longing for freedom.They speak for those still hidden in the shadows of industry. One hen, heavy with remembering the nightmare, tells Alice what the others cannot. A quiet messenger from a world that silences more than it hears.

Still, she dreams of sunlight, of soft earth, of dignity denied to so many.

In this dreamlike hour, where story and truth blur, she finds the courage to speak. Here, under starlight, fiction bends and truth finds its way in.

(Music Choice for Creation: Joanna Newsome; Sadie)

Original Artwork, 8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025 — Framed.  Framed Dimensions: 13.5” x 15.5"

(Solid Wood Composition Hand-Leafed Museum-Quality Closed-Corner Gold Frame)

She Belonged to the Pines

Part of the "Portraits From Another Room" Collection

In this portrait, a woman is poised in a high-collared lace dress adorned with strings of pearls that cascade softly down her chest. A chickadee, small and watchful, perches gently on her shoulder while antlers rise from her crown-like, reaching skyward. 

In "She Belonged to the Pines," she is living in two worlds—one civilized, the other feral. This painting is a reflection of what we often carry within us: a quiet longing for the wild, a return to something more instinctual.

Thank you for pausing with me. Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Aurora; Running with the Wolves)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on canvas, 2025, Canvas Dimensions: 12” x 12” 

"Running with Grace"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

Inspired by the nuns, I see simply going about their day. It was an image that stayed with me, so I painted it to remember it. It was inspiring to see and something I've never forgotten.

(Music Choice for Creation: Mr. Mister; Kyrie)

Original Artwork, 20" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

"Rise of the Local Roost"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In "Rise of the Local Roost," a chicken floats gracefully through a bright blue sky, lifted by a bundle of egg-shaped balloons. Lighthearted and surreal, the piece carries both whimsy and weight — a gentle nudge to look upward, and inward, at the choices we make.

At a time when the cost of eggs is climbing and conversations about food sources grow louder, this painting honors the farmers who care deeply for their flocks.

Rise of the Local Roost is both a call and a  reminder to support local, to seek out the stories behind our food, and to rise alongside those who raise their animals with love.

Thank you for lifting this story with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Rosemary Clooney; Mambo Italiano)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on Canvas, 2025, Canvas Dimensions: 8” x 10” Framed Dimensions: 13.5” x 15.5"

A hand-leafed gold frame with closed corners and solid wood craftsmanship. 

"The Nest She Wore"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

In The Nest She Wore, a woman sits with quiet elegance, her piercing green eyes echoing the leaves that bloom across the pink and yellow floral wallpaper behind her. Woven delicately into her hair is a bird’s nest — a symbol of home, nurture, and quiet strength — while a red cardinal perches gently on her shoulder, as if whispering something only she can hear.

Dressed in shades of red and pink that mirror the warmth of the wallpaper, she carries an air of timeless grace — classic, aged, and touched by something wistful. This piece explores the weight and beauty of caretaking, the way we carry our nests — our responsibilities, our tenderness, our hopes — often without speaking a word of it.

The Nest She Wore is a visual poem about memory, connection, and the beautiful tangle of what we carry in our minds and hearts.

Thank you for stepping into this story – Amy

Part of the "Portraits From Another Room" collection— Canvas Size: 8"x 10"

"She Held the Unseen"

I woke up this morning and knew exactly what I wanted to paint... a chicken soul, made of the night sky.

(Musical Selection for creation: Peter Gabriel; In Your Eyes)

Original Artwork, Framed and Ready to Hang. 8" x 10" Canvas Size. Acrylic on Canvas, 2025 

"Dance or Break Free"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In Dance or Break Free, a small yellow chick stands on a cream-colored floor, one foot lifted mid-step, suspended by strings. The chick is posed, a marionette — controlled by an unseen force. The moment is both delicate and unsettling, capturing the tension between innocence and restraint, between being held and being free.

This piece is a quiet protest — a reflection on the treatment of chickens in industrial farming, where their natural instincts are restricted, and their stories are silenced before they can even begin.

Dance or Break Free asks a question: are we simply making them perform for us, or are we listening to what they need? The marionette strings become a symbol of control — but also a call to awareness. 

This painting is a plea for empathy, a reminder that these creatures were made to live, explore, and feel.

Thank you for seeing the story behind the strings – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Brandi Carlile; The Story)

Part of the  Artwork, 8" x 10" Canvas Size. Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

"Her Silence, Its Shelter"

Part of Portraits From Another Room Collection

"Her Silence, Its Shelter" is a reminder the quiet bond that forms when we simply sit with another life.

Thank you for sharing in this moment – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Florence and the Machine; Never Let Me Go)

Original Artwork, 12" x 12", Acrylic on Canvas, 2025. 

"Lady Hens Walking the Beach"

Part of the Chicken Stories Collection

In Lady Hens Walking the Beach, the twin hen-women — statuesque and surreal, their golden hair topped with bright red combs, their feathered bodies a deep, regal purple. Side by side, they walk in quiet unison along the shoreline, their feet just skimming the edge of the water. One wears the faintest trace of a smile, while the other remains still-faced, as if carrying a thought too delicate to speak.

There is something timeless about their stride — two figures moving forward together, calmly, rhythmically, as if they’ve done this before, and will again. The beach becomes a place of gentle ritual, a space for reflection and steady companionship.

Lady Hens Walking the Beach is about the comfort of familiar paths, the presence of those who walk beside us, and the quiet inner shifts that happen when we move through the world with someone who truly sees us. A nod to enduring connection and shared silence, it captures the feeling of both journey and return.

Thank you for walking with me – Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto; The Girl from Ipanema)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on canvas, 2025, Canvas Dimensions: 8” x 10” 

"In the Orchard of Her Mind"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

"In the Orchard of Her Mind," each apple grows from her quiet heaviness and the strength of her vulnerability. This piece acknowledges that we all carry something, even when it's not in full view.

Thank you for seeing this piece - Amy

(Music Choice for Creation: Rachel Sermanni; Everything Changes)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on Canvas, 2025, Canvas Dimensions: 12” x 12” Framed Dimensions: 13” x 13," Black Frame

"Busy Was Her Quiet"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

"Busy Was Her Quiet" shows the constant activity inside her mind. The bees are the mind-noise...memories, hopes, worries, looping thoughts.

Anxiety is not always loud. Sometimes, it's polite.

(Music Choice for Creation: Agnes Obel; Familiar and also Morphine; A Head With Wings)

Original Artwork, Acrylic on Canvas, 2025, Canvas Dimensions: 12” x 12” 

"Stillness and Stars"

Part of the Portraits from Another Room Collection

A portrait of what's seen and what's unseen. Her surface is visible. But the night sky and stars show her soul.

(Music Choice for Creation: Simon & Garfunkel; Scarborough Fair)