I did In Vitro Fertilization for 5 years and now have a beautiful baby boy, Gabriel, just over a year old today. Through this arduous, pricey and painful process, and especially after the throes of the pandemic, I am all the more driven to show him what is precious: the amazing world we live in, full of natural wonders wherever you turn, if only you take the time to look. He is helping me see as much as I am helping him—he turns at the sound of each bird call; he sees the smallest fallen petal and bends to explore it.

What I feel and wish the most for now is grace: the gracefulness of these creatures swimming through the ocean, grace that they exist. Grace for myself as a new mother, finding time to paint between baby naps and weekly crises. Grace for us all, because continuing to create and experience others’ creation is a lifeline that lifts us all from both the mundane and the unthinkable.

In this Grace series, I paint the exotic forms of oceanic creatures—jellyfish & nudibranchs. It’s amazing that something in our world can look so fantastical, but it really exists.