From 2016–2017 I participated in the Cascadia Residency here in Seattle. The goal of this program was to pair artists and churches to build understanding and create art out of the formed relationship. While I love church, this turned out to be more of a struggle than I anticipated, because I don’t make art or illustrations FOR church.

In the middle of this year my beloved mother had a stroke, which changed all our lives. As I navigated that, I used the residency to create letters and art for my mother as she recovered. It was fun to be able to send her these items as a way to feel present and show her my love. Each letter and accompanying piece of art is a celebration of our mother–daughter relationship.

One of the fun things is that I wrote all the letters on old stationery that used to be my Grandmothers. My mom had saved it all, and I scrounged it to write letters to her.