Embrace

Embrace was painted as a parting gift to the C Road church community in Brockville, Ontario—a place that became an unexpected spiritual home during one of the most tender and transformative seasons of my life.

I created this piece when my daughter Autumn was almost one, right before our family moved to Alberta. It was my way of saying thank you—for the warmth, the welcome, the way this church quietly supported me as I found my way back to faith. C Road wasn’t where I expected to land, but it became the ground where seeds were planted. It was the first church I attended after becoming a mother, and through its people and presence, I began to sense God’s nearness again.

The painting itself is full of symbolism. A rooted tree stretches upward, its branches stirred by a golden arc that seems to carry life across the canvas. On the right, a figure leans into this flow—perhaps in worship, perhaps simply in surrender—while a butterfly hovers above, marking the sacredness of transformation.

It speaks to the divine embrace I felt during that season: the sense that I was being gently, persistently drawn back to God, not through pressure or performance, but through love. Through community. Through the quiet work of the Holy Spirit.

This piece remains one of the most heartfelt thank-yous I’ve ever painted. A moment of worship wrapped in colour. A reminder that God meets us not only in our highest moments, but in our return.