New Beginnings, Self Portrait

40” x 55”, mixed media on printed canvas

Framed in white wood

New Beginnings is the first piece in my Self Portrait series—a body of work rooted in deep introspection, where I use abstract expressionism and mixed media to uncover layered versions of the self. Created on a large-scale printed canvas and framed in clean white wood, this work blends oil pastels, chalk pens, and acrylic, building texture and emotion through instinctive movement.

This piece holds a heavier, darker energy—it was created during a time of inner processing and became the one that cracked something open within me. In working through the weight, I cleared space. I call it my unclogging piece: the one that made room for flow, for light, for color to return. It is as much about release as it is about rebirth.

Though it carries shadows, New Beginnings marks a turning point—a visual exhale. It is not polished or resolved, but that is its power. It represents the messy, necessary first step toward something new.