12 x 9 in.

There are times in life, when doors open. And there are times when you walk through them. They do not always happen simultaneously.

You could say that life has been opening a lot of wonderful doors for me lately. You could also say that maybe I’ve been knocking long and hard enough on those doors that it was about damn time they open! ;) Or maybe you could say that they have opened before, but I wasn’t ready to walk through them until now.

You see, I’m beginning to realize that doors of opportunity open often~ but you have to know how to recognize an open door when you see one, and you also have to be ready to walk through. That’s the part that I’ve been so frustrated about before in life, the part when I felt like I was ready, in fact I was absolutely certain I was ready but in hindsight I could see that I actually wasn’t ready yet. Am I making sense here or am I just typing the word 'ready' a lot?

This painting was actually inspired and painted back in November, immediately following my time at Quilt Market. It was a pivotal time because I had the fabric line in clear view, I was invited to speak at Alt and I have some other projects in the works that I haven’t even been able to share yet that also came together during this time. It was like something shifted.  And this image has become a symbol of that. On a totally random note, I also realized that I had never painted the backs of my characters before. It’s funny to me that you can still recognize them this way.

The little red rabbit, though....he’s looking back. He’s looking back because he wants everyone to come along with them. He wants everyone to go on the adventure, to succeed and thrive and have fun together. He’s making sure you know you are welcome to come too.

But the thing is, not everyone will come along for the journey at the same time or sadly at all. And this is a bummer really, especially when those people are your close friends or family, the ones that you want to come with you the most. Then you remember that the only time anyone can go through an open door of opportunity is when they are truly ready, and not before. It’s important to acknowledge this, but don’t let it keep you from going forward ~ because that really doesn’t help anyone. People want to be inspired. We are inspired when we see people, what is that saying?, "go confidently in the direction of their dreams" and I will add "walk through those open doors".

Are you ready? 

A new favorite, I’ve been holding on to the original of this painting until today. I’m finally 'ready' to let it go to it’s new home. *there I had to type "ready" one final time, for good measure ~ you know.*

{ original is sold ~ also available as a print here and here (because it looks really good in a large size)}