From Fight to Flight
From Fight to Flight was born during one of the most difficult chapters of my life. What began as a way to cope with loss and change soon became a story of transformation — of finding light again through paint and colour, and rediscovering who I am beyond illness and circumstance.
When I began painting From Fight to Flight, I was standing at a crossroads — in the midst of one of the hardest transitions of my life. Ill health had forced me into early retirement, just as I was stepping fully into my career as a midwife — a role that had always felt like my calling. The consequences rippled through every part of my life, affecting not only my work but my sense of identity, my family, and my place within it. I realised I was grieving the loss of, well… me.
This painting became my way of processing that grief. The fight represented all the resistance within me — the struggle to accept what illness had taken, to be the mother I wanted to be, to dance again, to hold on to the life I had worked so hard to build. But as the painting evolved, something shifted. Through each layer, I began to soften that resistance. I started to accept, even embrace, a new version of myself. My art transformed from something purely therapeutic into a new sense of purpose — something that had always been waiting quietly in the wings, ready to take flight.
For me, the butterfly symbolises transformation — fragile yet fierce, delicate yet determined. With each brushstroke, each unfolding wing, I realised I wasn’t just painting loss; I was painting release. The flight wasn’t about escaping what had happened, but about finding freedom within it — the courage to let go of what was, and to open myself to what could be.
The colours carry this story too. Darker, heavier tones root the piece in struggle and surrender, while layers of gold and light emerge above them, suggesting renewal and possibility. The wings flow outward — expansive, open — as if inviting both artist and viewer to begin again.
From Fight to Flight is more than a butterfly painting. It’s a reminder that even in endings, there is room for transformation. That letting go, however painful, can be the first step toward discovering a new version of yourself — one that is no less beautiful, only different, and perhaps even braver than before.