“A Cloud Trying on a Black Turtleneck” comes from my deep love for those quiet, quirky moments in life where everyday logic takes a backseat to pure imagination. When I paint, I often find myself pulling from the nostalgia of classic children’s book illustrations—the kind of stories where ordinary objects have secret, whimsical lives of their own. I wanted this piece to feel like a lost page from one of those books, capturing a sense of playful wonder and light-hearted storytelling. The actual spark for this painting came from a hilariously relatable human struggle: the collective agony of squeezing ourselves into clothes that are just a bit too tight. We’ve all been there—hopelessly trapped halfway through a stubborn sweater, questioning our choices. In this piece, that heavy, thick black oval became my rigid, unforgiving "turtleneck," constricting the soft, fluid white shapes trying to force their way through. I let the black paint drip down the canvas to mirror that heavy sigh of defeat (or triumph!) we make when we finally wiggle free.