What I stand between

There’s a kind of strength that never gets seen, because if it’s doing its job, nothing ever happens. No danger reaches the ones you love. No harm gets close enough to leave a mark. That’s the strength I wanted to paint here, not the strength that fights and wins visibly, but the strength that simply stands in the gap so no one behind it ever has to.

The wolf doesn’t ask to be noticed for this. He isn’t guarding out of duty or performance, but because it’s who he is at the deepest level, selfless in a way that costs him something every time and asks for nothing back. Layered with gold leaf and fragments of pattern woven into his coat, he holds his ground quietly, the way real protection usually looks from the outside, unremarkable, until you realize what it’s been holding back the whole time.

If you’ve ever stood between someone you love and something that could have hurt them, I hope this piece feels familiar. It’s for anyone who understands that the strongest thing you can do for another person is sometimes simply to stay.

• Original mixed media oil painting on 36x36 inches gallery wrapped canvas

• Part of a four-piece wildlife strength series

• Signed on the back, comes with a certificate of authenticity

• Varnished, ready to hang