Nicole's Story Behind The Painting:

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be both a spiritual creature and a creature of the Earth. The feeling of standing under a canopy of trees is incomparable. It's at once a feeling of being grounded, rooted in the Earth, and a mysterious sensation of connection to all that ever was, all that is, and all that ever will be.

When I worked as a journalist reporting on environmental issues, it struck me that what often moves us toward caring and the will to act transcends facts and figures. Often, what moves us is feeling and emotion, and the love we feel toward people, places, and animals. Science and research is important. At the same time, I've observed how powerful the role of human connection to each other and to their environment truly is in what we choose to protect and how hard we try to do so.

There are too many instances where people are being poisoned by chemical plants located within dangerous proximity of their homes. There’s literally a region of Louisiana nicknamed Cancer Alley. When I interviewed the leaders of a group called Rise St. James in St. James, Louisiana, they recounted their fight to keep another polluter from being built close to their homes and schools. Meanwhile, the group grieved neighbors who died from cancer, made more prevalent by the toxins in their area. There are too many instances where indigenous groups have to prove why their land should be protected from harm and aren’t listened to. I spoke with Tlingit women who traveled 3,000 miles from Alaska to DC to advocate for the Tongass forest.

The burden of proof and action often falls at the feet of those who are most willing to care and who are most affected by others' apathy. This is why I want to be a part of cultivating love for our planet. Researching the impact of climate change is important work. At the same time, I think cutting straight to the heart of this issue is important too. Pollution, deforestation, and habitat loss already hurt people and animals throughout this world. I care.

There is so much grief to be felt about our fellow human beings harmed by air and water pollution, precious forests reduced to ash, and water wonders of the Earth choked by stunning amounts of trash. I've had to grieve so much as a trauma survivor and I know firsthand that grieving is loving. Grieving is seeing things as they are and living in reality. It can be terrifying to grieve and yet, it is healing and it points the way forward.