This series of 9 paintings was a means to work through unresolved difficult parts of a relationship with someone who passed to find, if not joy, at least healing, and growth. This process led me to Tonglen, an ancient Buddhist practice meaning "sending and taking." It is meant to awaken compassion. This practice calls us to invite in life exactly as it is, the suffering and the joy and the everything-in-between, to connect our personal experiences with those of all beings; to cultivate presence and radical acceptance, a place from which our wakeful work can begin, to send healing energy out into the world.