THIS ROSE IS REACHING Acrylic, drafting tape, plastic, pen, and pencil on paper, 9 x 12 inches

This piece is about the relationship between potential and an individual. I use the symbolism of a rose to represent the potential in life, all that is sweet, all that is textured and rich. On the under layer of THIS ROSE IS REACHING, I have written about a rose and a blind self together in a garden. The rose bends toward me, it reaches, it releases a saccharine scent, but I cannot see its efforts - I am blind to them. Just as Ram Dass says, “You can’t rip the skin off the snake.” The snake must shed its skin in its own time, and I must amble around the garden until there are petals in my hand. It all happens at the rate it happens.

In two symmetrical vertical columns, I have written:

“This rose is reaching. This rose is reaching. This rose is reaching.”