Ariel flowed from deep grief and anger sprinkled with dashes of hope. The grief and anger stemed from feeling impotent as I learned more about the institutionalization of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women phenomenon.

This piece is is named after a missing and murdered Diné woman. I was introduced to her by a Navajo cop I'd worked with when he sent me a missing person's flyer in September 2017 and asked me, "What do you feel from this?" That simple question took me into the American desert, deep danger and the worst of humanity's behavior.

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Ariel is a symbol of strength, the power of prayer, and hope for the future.

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The poem here reads:

The sun called you daughter

long before you were first

touched by the dawn.

Trees bow before you more

deeply than they do the

wind.

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You were made of the stars

and born in answer

to a prayer.

You belong.

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Your gentle strength is forged

by the fire of the heart

And woven into the fabric

of the future.

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Water will guide your power

and grace through the fear.

You're here on purpose

with purpose.

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The whispers of angels

and eagles

will get knotted in your hair.

And your laughter will inspire

the wind.

Ah-wa-heh, old child.

Let beauty ease your way.

You are stronger and braver than you know.

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Ariel is 24 1/4" x 30 1/4" framed. Mixed media on canvas

$6250.

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