When I start a canvas I have no idea what will emerge. Sometimes I step back after being mesmerized in a painting and am astonished at the transformation. She is me - every emotion, bruise, battle and scar alive on the canvas - strong and beautiful. For those of us that have survived domestic violence there is always a part of us that holds onto the trauma. It can resurface at the strangest moments. I was beating myself up for allowing those parts of me to resurface but as I worked through this painting I realized that even though my body sometimes remembers I have healed so much. I am embracing it ALL because all of it has made me who I am.