A close friend of mine, Spring, graduated with her Practical Nursing degree last night. My husband and I attended the ceremony and it was incredible to see all those individuals celebrating a milestone in their lives. Not that this was the first graduation I have ever attended, and I have been a part of a few myself, but I just feel more sentimental and inspired these days… more appreciative of moments, achievements, etc.

Knowing Spring and knowing her scholastic journey has been an inspiration… and it is something I wanted share.  She is one of the toughest women I know. Her story relating to nursing school is one of strength, as are the stories of all her other endeavors.

Spring also asked me to create something for her to symbolize her achievement, which I was honored to do.  So, along with Spring’s journey,  I wanted to share my experience with the piece I created, and how it came to be.

It feels like yesterday that we were celebrating her start of nursing school.

… and now she is a “nursey nurse” (as she affectionately calls her new profession )

A few weeks ago I started Spring’s gift by writing a poem. I find that my “cycle of creation” concerning artwork almost always starts with prose, then I get inspiration for images from the emotion(s) that the writing evokes…

The dream whispers at first,
Longing for your attention…
…Subtlety penetrating the conscious mind.
The whispers become vehement pleas,
“Commit to the journey, your joy awaits.”
The path has required tenacity,
Calling forth the ability to persevere.
Storms have been endured.
Now the clouds have departed…
…and the last rain drop has dissolved-
You are standing in the sunshine.
Your dream smiles as you greet it.

I reflected on the words and feelings for a few days. I doodled and sketched. I researched and discussed. Then, I produced this…

I added color and cleaned it up…

Then, I found a frame…

I was embarrassingly proud of how it came out. I texted a picture of the piece to my friends and family, I brought it to work and showed my coworkers, I even spent time thinking about how to put my signature on the piece (I decided on something that looks like this –> B*, a “B” with a little “star”, which I added in the top right corner after the above picture was taken.)

Most of all though, I was proud of Spring, and grateful that she believed in my “talent” enough to ask for something from me. My second requested piece! (The first was from my friend Sarah http://deliciouslyalive.com/2011/08/16/for-sarah/)

(Spring and her family looking at the gift)

Congrats, again, Spring-a-ling… I’m so proud of you!

xo.