Held, Then Disturbed - Study for a Threshold

Held, Then Disturbed - Study for a Threshold is a deeply emotional, tactile abstract work born from a period of profound personal exhaustion and compassion fatigue. Beyond its dynamic movement, the painting document’s the artist’s raw lived experience as a stray cat rescuer navigating a devastating wave of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) by watching rescued lives fall and slip away one by one despite desperate, exhausting efforts to save them. The composition centers on a violent visual dichotomy. In the bottom left corner, a burst of radiant gold, warm copper, and vivid neon green represents the "held" peace i.e. the brief, beautiful moments of sanctuary, connection, and joy shared with the vulnerable animals. This fragile peace is suddenly shattered and "disturbed" by a crushing, monumental vortex of deep blues and frothing whites. This sweeping movement mimics an unstoppable, repetitive ocean wave, capturing the relentless cycle of sickness, grief and mental as well as physical burnout. Mixed media elements are crucial to this narrative; coarse sand is deliberately blended into the acrylic pigments, introducing a rough, gritty friction across the canvas that physically mirrors the grueling, hard reality of rescue work. Yet, as the vortex sweeps upward, flecks of the original gold reappear at the very top of the painting which is a symbolic testament that despite the crushing weight of loss, the underlying warmth and determination to protect life cannot be completely wiped away.