This painting is inspired by the great fortune that can be found when we open our minds and hearts to the unexpected splendor that our environment carries within it, which is a theme throughout my work. I love to go on long walks and it makes my heart sing when I think about all the beauty that happened to cross my path, just because I allowed myself to see it. “If you could only see what I see (everything is golden)” is the result of that much celebrated feeling, where the “golden” is a small reference to the golden toad, an amphibian that was last seen over 30 years ago and that one of the first species who’s extinction is linked to climate change. I allowed this fox and its animal friends to spot it, hinting at the fact that it’s good to always hold onto a glimmer of hope and to find peace in the thought that even despite great losses, one’s world and all it encompasses can be golden if one wants it to be.