Some of my artwork.

This is my first painting I did for my restorative justice class. I wrote the following about it:

 "Restorative justice to me represents hope; hope that a broken system can be fixed, hope that broken relationships can be made right, and hope that the oppressed can be set free. Throughout this semester, as I have studied RJ and trauma awareness, I have felt hopeful about the work being done in the world and the progress the discipline is maki

ng. Our time at the Grateford Prison also filled me with hope; hope in humanity, that good people exist in every part of the world and are able to remain hopeful despite horrendous circumstances.

The birds in my painting represent this hope that exists. One of the inmates read a poem while in Graterford that inspired my painting and my life. The poem by Emily Dickinson goes, "hope is the thing with feathers that perches on the soul, and sings the tune-without the words, and never stops at all. And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, and on the strangest sea; yet, never, in extremity, it asked a crumb of me."

This is one the paintings I copied this summer. I just love the colors and rainy day atmosphere.

Here is one of the collages I made for my friend Anna. She loves to travel so I wanted to include pictures of places that looked exciting and inspiring. They represent just part of the infinite abyss.

This is the special collage I made for my dad. He loves cars, so I collected some of his old car magazines and created this. I have to admit that it has been one of my favorite collages. 

I even added artwork to my room. These are my closet doors in my bedroom. I first drew the tree in with pencil, before taking black paint.

I painted this the night of Hurricane Sandy. It is based on a picture of the mountains in Kurdistan and the great beauty that encountered there.