For Sheri, painting is not merely an artistic pursuit—it is a process of becoming, an act of embracing what has been silenced, a way of moving through the complexities of loss and resilience. Her work does not seek resolution—it seeks presence—presence that is formed in the act of painting. The brush does not erase; it reveals. Every color, every texture, is a way of bringing emotion into form— to let it live, to let it belong.

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It was watercolor that brought color back into her life during a time of deep uncertainty—fluid pigments guiding the return. And it was her daughter’s courage that made space for that color to arrive, infusing the act of painting with something beyond technique. In this space of transformation, the herons and turtles she painted became more than subjects; they became beacons. Their quiet persistence, their deliberate stillness, shaped. They did not simply exist alongside her work; they guided it. It was here, in their presence, that A Girl Is Abandoned took form—not as an isolated concept, but as something deeply felt and lived, something that belonged.

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With this emergence came another transformation—a newly formed relationship with oils and cold wax, expanding the way texture and awareness could unfold in her hands.

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In the act of painting, Sheri does not simply express emotion—she steps into it. The aesthetic process of feeling the feelings of her feelings is not passive; it is transformative. It is here, in this embodied engagement with color and texture, that she connects with more of her true self. As she paints, she does not merely observe her unconsciousness, she feels it.  In feeling it, she becomes more fully alive.

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The more Sheri engages with the aesthetic process, the more it shapes her. She does not merely create art—art creates her. The aesthetic process itself is a force, sharpening her internal aesthetic compass and revealing the depth of both disquiet and beauty. The more she engages, the more she emerges—not toward an ending, but into a deeper unfolding of self.