Long before the first line is burned, a piece of wood begins to listen. It waits, the way old trees wait, until it is ready. Then it speaks, and I follow.

Every work starts with a longing the world has misplaced – ease, magic, the quiet promise that more is possible. The flowers come from everywhere I have wandered, each one carrying the story of another land. The fire hums, the grain shows me where a body wants to rest, and together we create something that was always meant to exist.

And the work keeps living. Over the years the blossoms grow paler, and the whole painting becomes softer, like a memory held with love.

People often cry in front of these paintings. They cannot say why. Perhaps they recognize the child they once were. Perhaps they remember that life can be ease-filled.

I work with pressed flowers, delicate papers and soft fibres. I love materials that whisper – materials that ask for patience and carry the memory of touch.

They are beings that hold stories, histories and vibrations. The fragility of the paper, the softness of the petals, the lightness of the fibres – each one is an invitation.

They ask me to slow down, to listen to their quiet strength and to treat them with reverence. Every layer, every press becomes an act of honouring – of working with what is delicate and allowing it to become transformation.

When I am fully myself, I am joy – the joy I truly am.

My mind is wired a little differently. I am neurodivergent, and the world reaches me in brighter colours, sharper details, softer whispers. Like a child who has just discovered the sea, I can delight in almost anyone and anything. This joy flows into every painting, most openly into Born to Be Me.

Once, at an art fair, a woman stood in front of Sleeping Beauty and told me how generous she was with everyone else, and how sparing she was with herself. I told her what I teach and live every day: you are only one choice away from a different story.

We all tell ourselves stories about what we can and cannot choose. In the end, all it takes is the choice.