We Must Believe ~ Wild Tenderness Part 2 Begins! Father’s Day

The Wild Tenderness Collection, PART TWO, is in process!!

Before I started painting motherhood I drew and painted whimsical multitudes of animals and birds… then I became a mother… you know the rest.

I’m bringing these two subjects, whimsical animals and mother-love, together for the Wild Tenderness Collection.

Part One of this Collection was released on January 30 – one-of-a-kind original paintings on heavy paper released into my Online Studio Shop. All but ONE of those original paintings have sold, and there are prints available of the ones who have sold. You can even get a rad collection of prints!

Make sure you are on the email list, so that you will be kept updated of this special release and notified when the paintings are ready.

Today I have the first painting in Part Two of the Collection… We Must Believe. Many folks gave their feedback on my Instagram Stories as I worked through this colorful collection of butterflies and love. THANK YOU.

Stand-by for more paintings over the next couple weeks, and more information about Release Day – this piece is not available YET – but if you can tell that she is for you, let me know and I can give you a special notification when she is released.

Here is her story (since I know you love the stories as much as I do):

We must believe. I recently listened to Light Watkins‘ thoughts about the untimely loss of so many black lives… too young with too much potential.

Light mentions that Maya Angelou’s early life included drugs and a strip club and Malcolm X spent time in prison for burglary. They did what they did then came upon the time/place/inspiration to become who they were meant to be in the world. Empowering themselves then others, creating change. If we judge them by their early situations, we would be sorry.

We must believe that those around us can rise to their next level of greatness, and that we can, as well.

We must have faith that our children were born with their greatness coded into them, they are not blank slates, but are designed for something big. We guide them, we nurture them, we trust and honor them, then we get out of their way.

Ooof, that’s hard. Personally, my boys are becoming who they are meant to be, and I am detaching myself from the control I have had over their lives for over 15 years. It’s not easy.

The world does not revolve around us but goes on whether we are holding on or not. Children grow, things change, all without our help, hoping or wishing. We want to feel necessary, needed, relied upon. We want to believe that our personal earth turns on its axis because we are there to keep it from falling. But life has its own plans.

Alexandra Stoddard says that two of the most common fears of mothers are 1) I’ll die, and 2) something awful will happen to my child. Well, she says, we WILL die. So, there is no surprise there. And two, if something DOES happen to our child, God forbid, we need to be strong, centered, capable of handling it. We will be brave.

We will be brave when we send our children out into the world. They need to see us as brave so that they can be brave and climb from our protective embrace to spread their delicate wings and take flight. We must believe that they will do the right things, mostly, and that their mistakes will not define them. They may find themselves in a strange time & place just as many of those we admire have. We must believe that life will take them on their ideal journey.

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A Round-Up of Father’s Day Art Prints! Thinking about phenomenal Fathers in this world, those leading, those protecting, those who are tender… I was blessed to have a great one and I was lucky to snag an exceptional one for my babies. Here are some special Daddy prints.

I have MANY collectors who are Fathers… men who see, feel and relate to the tenderness I capture in my paintings ❤ I am thankful for them.

Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week’s end.

Love & Sincerely, Katie