BH Studio, Springfield, MO (2026)

07/28/2026

Borrowed Languages: MAGRITTE

WHY MAGRITTE INSPIRES ME: René Magritte had a remarkable way of making ordinary objects feel unfamiliar. He understood that images and words don't always tell the same story, and that sometimes the space between them is where the truth lives. In The Treachery of Images, he painted a pipe and wrote, "This is not a pipe." Of course it looked like a pipe...but it wasn't one. It was only a painting of a pipe. That simple contradiction has challenged the way people think for nearly a CENTURY! (reference in comments)

Magritte reminds me that art doesn't always need to provide answers. Sometimes its greatest purpose is to make us see something we've stopped noticing.

PERCEPTION: Inspired by Magritte

This is not a drill.

For generations, those words meant practice. A precaution. Something temporary. Today, they carry a different weight.

I painted a rifle assembled entirely from the objects that belong in a classroom: a backpack, a ruler, a pencil, composition notebooks, crayons. Individually, they represent curiosity, creativity, and possibility. Together, they become something else.

The sentence beneath the painting borrows Magritte's language, but its meaning has changed. This isn't a play on words.

It's a reality too many students, teachers, and families now understand.

I don't know the solution.

I don't know how we stop the headlines or end the fear that follows children into places meant for learning.

I only know that classrooms should never have to rehearse for tragedy, and children should never have to wonder if a drill is real.

We cannot keep accepting the loss of childhood as something normal. I hope this piece speaks to you and thank you for helping inspire me.

07/18/2026

Borrowed Languages: KAHLO

WHY KAHLO INSPIRES ME: What I admire most about Frida Kahlo is her courage to make herself the subject…not because she believed she was the most important person in the room, but because she understood that telling the truth about one life could reveal something universal about us all. Her paintings transformed pain into symbolism, identity into landscape, and resilience into beauty. She painted what it felt like to live.

Kahlo understood that symbolism could speak where words failed. Every flower, animal, garment, heart, and tear carried meaning. Her work reminds me that vulnerability isn’t weakness. it is one of the most honest forms of strength.

RESILIENCE: Inspired by Kahlo

This piece explores resilience through contemporary symbols of identity, migration, hope, and survival. Rather than recreating one of Kahlo’s self-portraits, I wanted to borrow her language of symbolism to tell a story rooted in today’s world.

A border wall divides the composition, while silhouettes of a family crossing water speak to displacement and uncertainty. A monarch butterfly represents migration and transformation. The prickly pear cactus symbolizes endurance…life flourishing in difficult conditions. A bleeding heart reminds us that compassion always comes at a cost. Above it all, Kahlo’s words become a declaration rather than a comfort:

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”

The second is a piece to honor her. I couldn’t get that look out of my head!

07/09/2026

BH STUDIO has officially made its way to C-Street! 🎨✨

Seeing my work hanging in a space where people can stumble upon it, connect with it, and hopefully take a little piece of it home is such a surreal feeling. Every piece I create is deeply personal, so sharing it with the community always feels a little vulnerable…but mostly, it feels like gratitude.

A huge thank you to Angie for helping make this opportunity happen. Opportunities like this exist because people believe in artists enough to open doors, and I’m so grateful.

And thank you to Angie and Heidi for helping me get everything set up.

If you’re strolling down C-Street, look in every glass window until you see my work! 🩵

Visit C-Street Historic C-Street

06/28/2026

Borrowed Languages: VAN GOGH

WHY VAN GOGH INSPIRES ME: What I admire most about Vincent van Gogh is that he didn’t just paint what he saw…he painted what he felt. Every brushstroke seems alive, carrying emotion across the canvas. His skies swirl with longing, his fields pulse with hope, and even ordinary portraits feel as though they are breathing. Van Gogh reminds me that wonder isn’t found in perfect moments. It’s found in choosing to keep looking closely at the world, even when life feels heavy. HHis work teaches me that emotion can become beauty when we’re brave enough to share it.

WONDER: Inspired by Van Gogh

Wonder begins with a question. The woman in this portrait isn’t looking at anything in particular. She’s looking through her thoughts, suspended somewhere between curiosity and contemplation. Around her, the world refuses to sit still. The sky twists into impossible currents, her coat dissolves into waves of movement, and the boundaries between the person and the landscape begin to disappear.

I wanted the brushstrokes to feel restless…as if the world itself is alive with possibility. The blues carry both peace and uncertainty, while the warm yellows remind us that light always finds a way into even the darkest skies.

Unlike awe, which arrives all at once, wonder asks us to linger. To sit with questions we cannot answer. To remain open when certainty would be easier.

Because wonder isn’t about finding every answer. It’s about never losing the desire to keep looking.

I hope you love her 🩵

06/19/2026

Borrowed Languages: MATISSE

WHY MATISSE INSPIRES ME: What I admire most about Henri Matisse is his belief that art could be joyful. At a time when many artists focused on realism, Matisse chose emotion. He simplified forms, flattened space, and used bold color not to replicate the world, but to express how it felt. His work reminds me that beauty does not have to be complicated to be powerful. There is a generosity in Matisse's paintings. They invite us to slow down, breathe, and experience pleasure without apology.

JOY: Inspired by Matisse
For this piece, I wanted to capture the feeling of contentment. The woman sits comfortably within a world of color, pattern, and growth. She is not rushing. She is not performing. She is simply present. The oversized botanical shapes reference Matisse's iconic cutouts, while the vibrant palette transforms the portrait into a celebration of abundance. The plants stretch toward the edges of the canvas, creating a sense that life continues beyond what we can see. Unlike many of the pieces in this collection, Joy is not about struggle, identity, or becoming. It is about arrival. About those rare moments when we stop chasing what is next long enough to appreciate what already is. The woman doesn't seek joy. She rests inside it.

06/18/2026

Borrowed Languages: HARING

WHY HARING INSPIRES ME: What I admire most about Keith Haring is that he believed art belonged to everyone. He painted on subway stations, sidewalks, walls, and public spaces because he wanted art to be accessible, joyful, and impossible to ignore. His work is playful on the surface, but underneath the bright colors and dancing figures are themes of connection, activism, community, and humanity. Haring understood that people are not meant to exist alone. His figures are constantly touching, moving, communicating, and creating energy together. That idea feels just as important today as it did when he first put marker to subway walls.

CONNECTION: Inspired by Haring
For this piece, I wanted to explore the idea that none of us become ourselves alone. The woman at the center appears singular, but she is surrounded by dozens of figures that form her hair, her energy, and her presence. Each shape represents a relationship, a conversation, a lesson, a community, or a moment that helped shape who she became. The portrait asks us to reconsider the myth of individual success. We often tell stories as though people achieve things on their own, but every life is built from countless connections. The figures dance, collide, and move together because growth rarely happens in isolation. We are influenced by the people who love us, challenge us, teach us, support us, and sometimes even disappoint us. The woman remains grounded and steady, while the world around her pulses with movement. Because identity is not something we create by ourselves. It is something we create together.

I cannot wait to see the Keith Haring exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art soon!

06/17/2026

Borrowed Languages: SHERALD

WHY SHERALD INSPIRES ME: I’ve always been drawn to Amy Sherald’s work because of the way she paints people. Not as they are expected to be seen. Not as stereotypes. Not as symbols. But as fully realized human beings. Her portraits feel quiet, but they are never small. They ask us to slow down, look closer, and consider the distance between who someone is and who the world assumes them to be.

Becoming: Inspired by Amy Sherald
For my interpretation, I painted a young artist. She stands confidently before us wearing a paint-stained apron, palette in hand, looking directly at the viewer. Not because she has already arrived, but because she is becoming.
Becoming an artist.
Becoming herself.
Becoming everything she has not yet imagined.
The piece is about potential. About claiming space before anyone gives you permission. About understanding that becoming isn’t a destination…it’s a lifelong act of courage.

06/14/2026

Borrowed Languages: WARHOL

WHY WARHOL INSPIRES ME: What I admire most about Andy Warhol isn’t just that he changed art…it’s that he changed who art was for. Warhol took images that people saw every day and elevated them into something worth paying attention to. He blurred the line between “high art’ and popular culture, forcing us to question what gives something value and who gets to decide. His work was playful, bold, accessible, and deceptively deep!

Beneath the bright colors and repetition was a question that still feels relevant today: How much of who we are is real, and how much is performance? A mask? A code switch?

VALIDATION: INSPIRED BY WARHOL

For this piece, I wanted to explore the many versions of ourselves that exist at the same time. The figure stares directly at the viewer, offering no explanation and no apology. The bright colors feel playful, but the expression tells a different story. There is exhaustion in the eyes. Determination, too.

As adults, we are constantly asked to be different things for different people…professional and creative, strong and vulnerable, confident and uncertain. We adapt, perform, and reinvent ourselves depending on where we are and who is watching.

Inspired by Warhol's fascination with image and repetition, this portrait asks a simple question: If every version of you is real, which one is worthy of love? The answer, I hope, is all of them.

06/10/2026

Borrowed Languages: PICASSO

WHY PICASSO INSPIRES ME: Pablo Picasso changed the way people think about art. Rather than painting what he saw, he painted what he understood. He challenged the idea that a person, object, or experience could be captured from a single point of view. That idea has always fascinated me. As humans, we are constantly shifting between roles, identities, and expectations. We often have to be one person at work, another with family, another with friends, and another when we are alone with our thoughts. Picasso reminds me that truth is often found not in simplicity, but in complexity..

IDENTITY: Inspired by Picasso

This piece explores the complexity of identity. We are never just one thing. We are shaped by our experiences, relationships, ambitions, failures, and dreams. Different people see different versions of us, and often we see different versions of ourselves. Sometimes the most honest portrait is the one that shows multiple perspectives at once. Because identity is not found in a single perspective. It is created by all of them. 🩵

BH Studio

07/28/2026

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07/09/2026

06/28/2026

06/19/2026

06/18/2026

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