Serendipity is a happy occurrence that takes place unexpectedly. The irony of this piece, and so much of my work is that, although I’m playing with imagery that explores certain fascinations with dark themes, the result is often a joyous act of reflection and rumination. In this image, my fear of death is the catalyst for a burst of imagination. Death is expressed here with a youthful face mirroring a Stygian skull. When the painting is observed more closely however, the skull becomes a landscape for hundreds of glittering gem stones. This illustrates a process of using one’s creative powers to transform disturbing thoughts into creative meditations. The act of doing this is, in and of itself, serendipitous. Nyctophilia refers to a psychological disorder in which an individual finds intense relief in the darkness. The relief that I find, as an artist, is in using darkness as a creative stimulus rather than a deterrent. A power of agency is indicated by the red spider crawling out from one of the eye sockets. I once read in a book of dream interpretations that if a woman dreams of a red spider it means she will overcome every obstacle and be a powerful matriarch in her future. a