Original painting
Acrylic on canvas board in gold frame. 19”x23”

GRWM, short for “Get Ready With Me,” explores the intimate ritual of getting ready to face the world. Our bathrooms and mirrors become little private spaces where we care for ourselves, prepare for the day, and decide how we want to be seen. There is something tender about these moments, but also something bittersweet in how much of ourselves we learn to adjust before stepping outside. Somewhere between wanting to feel beautiful and wanting to be accepted, we begin to measure ourselves against expectations that were never entirely our own. The red roses represent beauty, romance, and the delicate parts of ourselves we try to preserve, while the neon pink spilling beyond the frame hints at something that cannot be contained or made to fit neatly within society’s standards. To me, this painting is about that quiet exchange between self-love and self-consciousness, and the innocence we sometimes lose when we begin to see ourselves through the eyes of others. I hope it reminds us that we deserve the same tenderness we give ourselves in front of the mirror, even when no one else is there to see us.