Courage, Dear Heart

Thank you for taking the time to explore my work!

If you’re interested in owning the original painting please contact me directly.

Courage, Dear Heart
Acrylic and Oil on Wood, 2025 (26x26)

When I found these rare, red peonies, I had to bring them home and capture their beauty. I learned that red peonies symbolize honor, prosperity, and deep, enduring love. They also embody strength and resilience—qualities that resonate deeply with my artistic vision. I knew then that they belonged in a painting, carrying the energy of abundance, joy, and courage into the new and uncertain year ahead. 

At the time, I was making Chinese red lanterns with my students to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Traditionally, these lanterns symbolize good fortune, vitality, and the guiding light of hope. Their presence in this piece enhances its spirit of renewal and celebration, illuminating the path forward with warmth and possibility.

Hints of bubbles drift through the background, an abstract whisper of life’s transience. They echo the ephemeral nature of all things—beauty, time, even certainty itself. In a world that feels increasingly unsettled, Courage, Dear Heart is a quiet offering of resilience, a reminder that even in turbulent times, light and hope persist.

The title is drawn from C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which Aslan’s gentle but firm words guide a lost and fearful traveler through the darkness: “Courage, dear heart.” This painting, like those words, is an invitation to step forward in faith, to embrace the unknown with strength, and to find beauty even in uncertainty.