OUR WORK (formerly called "Thorny Heart"
     Original painting:   9" x 12" stretched canvas, acrylic
      Print:  8" x 10" with 1/4" white border, matte, archival ink and paper
 
The image of tenderly removing thorns on a brittle vine from the heart came to me in a meditation. The glowing green suggests the radiant field of the heart chakra. The symbol of gentle hands,: Whose hands they are  is an  ambiguous symbol decided by the viewer; sometimes "our work" is personal growth when we must gently remove thorns of old stories and beliefs; sometimes the hands are our hands and work in a birth story session, or the hands of the storyteller removing the thorny wrapping of words, images, and beliefs they've wrapped around their heart.
 
Deep in the heart, beneath the thorns and hard to reach,  is a nugget of glowing gold. Gold is also an ambiguous symbol that can represent transformation, hidden treasure, the Gift uponcompletion of Initiation or a hero's journey.
 
I've come to think of this image as a symbol for the Heart of Birth StoryWork,