It is no secret that my life has been in chaos for some time. Recent homelessness, multiple moves, several trips to the emergency room and an ICU stay, excessive financial stress while I went through a brutal divorce, escaping abusive relationships, and all of the anxiety disorders and complex PTSD flaring up because of these situations.

Finding resources to help was an exercise in futility and bureaucratic confusion. I needed calm. I craved serenity and often prayed to my higher power, asking for it.

This brings me to this collection. It is my first cohesive body of work, which was a goal of mine for 2024. I wanted to start working in collections and am finally getting to it!

So why this? Why the Amethyst Collection?

As a color, amethyst represents calm, balance, healing, and inner peace. This is what I needed — I still do — and maybe you do, too.

Gold is inviting and uplifting. For me, this adds depth and security to the work’s vibes. I want warmth and protection. I crave security in life more than anything else because I have had so little of it.

When combined, amethyst and gold are thought to symbolize divine connection. I love symbols and symbolic meanings. I love this interplay between the two colors.

I aim to help cultivate sanctuary, a sacred place in the collectors’ homes, where serenity and grounding coexist.

“The artist is an explorer of the inner world.

We traverse the depths of our psyche and emotions to discover insights through feeling and intuition, then process and transmute trauma, stuck emotions, and life experiences through creative expression.”

— James McCrae

The pieces are created with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. The amethyst ink is partially concocted with genuine amethyst crystals — which I love.

Bring on all the good vibes. Yes, please!

I have found the process of creating the pieces calming in and of itself—meditative, even. Alcohol ink is messy. It does what it wants. It flows and interacts, and I only have so much control over the process. As a recovering perfectionist, I love this. My inner critic simply has to take the backseat.

The flow of tilting the paper to make the ink flow where I am aiming for, again and again, and again and again (cue: this continues for a long time), calms me and brings me into the present moment. Pun intended: it is a flow state of sorts.

I hope this collection allows you to find moments of calm, grounding, and inner peace. I hope these works bring you a soothing yet hopeful experience. I hope they create a small haven of serenity in your life.