Self - portrait with a mug

It's 2011, and I’m stretching my first large-format canvas. I’ve just gone through a divorce and am full of hope for the future. I look at myself in the mirror and sip tea from my favorite mug. I decide to paint it onto the canvas as well. Its handle points out into space. I’m facing forward, offering those who want to walk with me on my new path the chance to pick up the mug and take a sip from it. A dynamic work full of burgeoning possibilities, determination, and plenty of dreams.