Moody Jungle Weekender Bag

Some paintings take a week. This one took two days.

It was commissioned by my cousin, and I started it the way I start most large pieces, methodically, carefully. Then the morning after I'd laid out the composition, I got news that a friend had passed. Someone I'd only just reconnected with after years of not speaking. The last thing she'd said to me was that she was happy I'd started painting again.

I finished the painting for her, really. Every time I got exhausted or frustrated, I stepped back, took a breath, and kept going. It's one of the most personal pieces I've made, and I'm glad it went to my cousin.

This bag carries that painting with it.