Nicole's Story Behind The Painting:

When someone loves the whole of you, it means accepting and loving all the parts that make us who we are, even the messy or ugly things we’d rather hide sometimes. I think that’s such an amazing thing - that love has the power to release us from shame.

This painting was inspired by a bouquet of flowers I received. Looking at the bouquet as I painted, the work unfolded. I mixed the colors onto the canvas and intuitively included colors from the bouquet. The brushstrokes express an opening, exploding-from-within feeling. And this open, exploding-from-within feeling is how it feels for me to love with and be loved for the whole of who I am.