Call on the Ancestors, 2020

With this newfound colour palette, I started to explore my feelings of sadness, fear and loneliness. Watching the news became an obsession and hour after hour I was hearing others work through their trauma. Everyone had their own unique perspective and it was my job to remain as neutral as possible. It was challenging in a way I had never felt before, as I was experiencing the same thing at the same time as all of my clients. It gave me a deep empathy and I self-disclosed more than I ever had. We really were in this together.

Then one day I was at the kitchen sink washing up dishes. The words "we are all under the one Australia sky" came into my mind. Maybe it was my Grandfather speaking to me from another realm? I needed as much support as I could get at this stage, already feeling overwhelmed and stressed in ways I had never experienced. It felt comforting to suddenly have a symbol to grab hold of.

I started to deepen my relationship with the sky, even talking to it in my mind. "Gotta love you, blue". "You've got this, sky!" "Holda me, close blue". Between therapy sessions I would walk out of my back porch door, look at the sky for 30 seconds and then return through the other door. After work I would walk around the neighbourhood or drive up to Mt Gisborne to look at the views of Melbourne beyond.