Diversity (48" x 36" acrylics on stretched canvas)

​

This earth-toned painting originally called Earth 1 (there is an Earth 2 that is not featured in this book) was motivated by my love of the fall colors in Colorado. My difficulties interpreting what the painting was saying to me resulted in this painting having multiple layers as I kept redoing all or parts of the work to try to get it right (something I unfortunately must do a lot!). I particularly love the bright copper features here, and the blue/green diagonal streak adds some compositional interest. Just when I thought I was done, Earth 1 told me not only was there one more step, but I also got the name wrong. The addition of the horizontal black and white streaks provided the finishing touch and exemplified its true name: Diversity. It is a celebration of the richness and power of varying backgrounds, experiences, personalities, cultures, and perspectives coming together to produce a much better outcome than would have resulted from less diverse involvement. This painting was a direct reflection of what was happening in my work life at the time. After many months of struggling with a decision to retain or fire a senior executive, I made a significant shift in my work-life perspective and approach and finally recognized that I need to be more tolerant of people who think differently than I do.