This painting is unusual in that it is painted over another painting!

Based on Andy's early conversations with Katie he created a painting that was too dark and pessimistic – too stark – a wrong artistic direction! At that point Katie pulled back from the project to focus on her recovery.

However there was one element of the first painting that Katie related to, the lotus f lower, symbolic for its beauty but also because they only grow in muddy water. For that reason it is a metaphor for facing and overcoming challenges and troubles that are necessary to bloom

So, Andy painted over the first painting and tried to create something more metaphorical and hopeful, and shared that with her later ….

Fortunately, Katie’s reaction to this work was much more positive and she has shared the picture with her therapist as a