My latest painting is an impressionist landscape of a road nearby my home in Southport, Connecticut. I went looking for inspiration a few days after a snowstorm and saw these two women walking and chatting as they walked along the road next to the elementary school.

I was inspired by the majestic shadows of the tree branches upon the snow, and loved the way that the two figures represent an aspect of life where we live. While children are in school, it’s not rare for stay-at-home moms to meet up and go for walks with or without their dogs and connect over the life stage they’re sharing.

This painting is a representation of that connection being made. Branches of the trees across the street from one another almost touching in the upper center of the composition mimic in metaphor how one woman is reaching out to another.

Between the branches of the trees, I selected varying colors to represent the sky and background trees, for a stained glass effect. Varied smaller parts, often discolored or imperfect, are what add to the beauty of cathedral windows and human beings alike. The women in the painting have different backgrounds, perspectives and opinions that make up their worldview and are as intricate as the branches of a tree, yet, here they are, bridging a connection for a moment, while the kids are at school.