Why “I am” ?
This series was born from a time of personal changes and events that break one open. That led to the study of the five stages of grief. In these works, I have paired each stage with an element and figurative work, also incorporating the Kansas Flint Hills landscape.
“I am” is a powerful phrase that grounds one back in the world and describes a sense of being
This painting embodies the element of Air the unseen, ever-shifting force that moves through us. Grief takes shape here as a surreal dancer across the Kansas Flint Hills, her body spiraling into a tornado. The work corresponds to depression, the stage where emotions swirl, collapse, and rebuild in relentless cycles.
"I Am the Storm" asserts the power of naming one's own state of being declaring presence amid chaos, and transforming despair into a testimony: I am still here, even in the storm.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 — $2,592
Available · Inquire about this piece
Companion piece: "Judy Green Storm," 8 x 8 acrylic on canvas — $128, available · Inquire about this piece
I Am the Storm
Here, the element of Earth holds the figure fast, her form merging with the trunk of a tree. A storm has passed, but the figure cannot move forward this corresponds to denial, the stage where the world feels paused and the self becomes rooted in disbelief.
"I Am the Grounding" speaks to the paradox of denial: a refusal to accept, and also a way of surviving the initial shock. Rooted in Earth, the figure shows that grounding can feel like strength, entrapment, or the necessary stillness before growth begins again.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 — $2,592
Available · Inquire about this piece
Companion piece: "Kay Blue Clouds," 8 x 8 acrylic on canvas — $128, available · Inquire about this piece
I Am the Grounding
In this work, a figure struggles beneath floodwaters, clutching at a branch as the current threatens to pull her away. The element of Water symbolizes the stage of bargaining, where grief surges in waves of pleading, negotiation, and desperate grasping for control.
The flood is overwhelming, a force that drowns certainty and destabilizes the body. Yet within it, there is also suspension, a drifting between surrender and survival. The figure's grasp on the branch suggests the human instinct to hold on, to find any anchor when everything else is swept away.
"I Am the Deluge" embodies the hardest stage of grief, the one that resists resolution. Water cleanses, but it also drowns. In this suspended space, we learn that bargaining cannot save what has already passed; it can only carry us toward acceptance of what remains.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 — $2,592
Available · Inquire about this piece
Companion piece: "Ginger Sunset," 8 x 8 acrylic on canvas — $128, available · Inquire about this piece
I Am the Deluge
The Kansas Flint Hills burn with the ritual fire of spring, flames tearing across the grasslands to renew the soil. In this painting, fire becomes a metaphor for anger, expressed through a figure in a primal scream. The release is both destructive and purifying — an emotional firestorm that sears but also clears. The work corresponds to anger, the stage where rage and frustration finally find release.
The element of Fire embodies transformation. Anger in grief is often misunderstood, but here it is given form as an essential process. Just as the land cannot renew without burning, the grieving self cannot heal without releasing the intensity of rage, frustration, or despair. The cleansing is painful, cracking open, but it must clear space for life to return.
"I Am the Cleansing" reminds us that anger is not the enemy of healing, but its catalyst. By allowing the flames to move through us, we reclaim the possibility of new beginnings, even if what was lost can never be restored.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 — $2,592
Available · Inquire about this piece
Companion piece: "Michael Grassfire," 8 x 8 acrylic on canvas — sold
I Am the Cleansing
The final work in the series moves beyond the tangible. The figure dissolves into ancient symbols of nature and the cosmos, where time and form are revealed as illusions. This stage corresponds to acceptance, not resignation, but as release into something larger than the self.
The element of Ether (or spirit) represents connection to what cannot be contained. Here, grief transforms into a recognition of continuity: that nothing is lost, only changed. The figure no longer resists but opens, merging with the expanse of the universe.
"I Am the Aether" closes the cycle of grief with a vision of transcendence. It is not a forgetting, but a reorientation, the moment when the self dissolves into something infinite.
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 — $2,592
Available · Inquire about this piece
Companion piece: "Ed Moon and Water," 8 x 8 acrylic on canvas — $128, available · Inquire about this piece
I Am the Aether
