Look Up 2018 | 31” x 31” | Mixed media on canvas

Created in 2018, during a particularly challenging period in my health and personal life, Look Up became both a quiet refuge and a reminder. When everything feels heavy — when thoughts cloud over and the ground beneath you seems uncertain — sometimes the simplest act is the most powerful: to lift your gaze. To look up. To search the sky for light, for distance, for something greater than the present moment.

This painting carries that gesture.

Layers of deep blue dissolve into misted whites and muted earth tones, suggesting atmosphere rather than landscape. It feels expansive — like standing beneath a restless sky, where light pushes through density. There is movement within it, but also stillness. A tension between weight and release. Between storm and clarity.

As with much of my work, texture plays a significant role. The surface holds subtle ridges and softened transitions, catching light in shifting ways. Throughout my process, I follow a personal ritual: once the painting is complete, I place it somewhere visible in my home. I live with it. I pass by it morning and evening. I observe how natural daylight alters its mood, how artificial light deepens or softens its tones. Only through this quiet testing do I decide whether it truly stands on its own.

Different hours of the day reveal different versions of Look Up. In cooler light, it feels introspective, almost meditative. Under warmer evening light, the ochre undertones emerge, suggesting warmth breaking through blue depth. This dialogue with light is essential to me. A painting must breathe in multiple conditions — it must feel honest not just once, but repeatedly.

I hold myself to clear criteria when finishing a piece. I must be fully certain:
Would I hang it on my own wall?
Does it feel complete in different light?
Does it resonate with me over time, not just in the moment of creation?

With Look Up, the answer remains yes.

Of course, like every work, I can see where it might have been pushed further. As artists, we always sense the next possibility, the next refinement. But growth comes through doing, through risk, through imperfection. Each piece carries its lessons forward.

This painting marks a moment of endurance — a reminder that even in darkness, there is always space above us. Sometimes hope begins simply by changing direction.

By looking up.