Through the Tempest is an unframed 8 x 10" acrylic painting on panel. 

As a final farewell to the summer of 2023, I took the opportunity to take an impromptu week-long solo road trip. In the earliest miles of my journey, I passed under a rogue storm cloud and through a little bit of rain. (Baptized on the highway, you might say!) I could see the sun and clear skies were up ahead.

The message was clear: all I had to do was move *forward* through the turbulent chaos to get to a brighter and calmer place. It was almost like a sign, telling me that this trip was going to allow growth and positive changes.

And while the summer had been pretty exceptional, there were also some dark moments; and right here under this cloud, I was going to leave those dark moments to memory.

By the end of the trip, I think I felt like this had been a sort of Midlife Rite of Passage. I really am entering a new chapter of life, and while there are things that I will have to let go of in order to move forward , there will be bright moments, positive experiences and so many new lessons ahead, as long as I keep moving forward on my journey. 

This is the first of the new paintings to document the adventures of my road trip retreat. For me, (at least right now) the scene represents my glass-half-full optimism, but acknowledges the other half of the glass, too; where emptiness is the other half of the story.