12”x12” framed mixed media encaustic painting 
I grew up near an old apple orchard, the kind of place that quietly becomes part of your inner landscape simply because you pass it day after day. One early fall evening, wandering farther than usual, I stumbled upon a tucked-away section of the orchard I’d never seen before. There, at the bend of a long dirt path, stood this small, abandoned house. Weathered, quiet, and full of stories it no longer told out loud.
It must have been a family’s home once; you can almost feel the echoes of lives lived inside its walls. Yet in that moment it looked both forgotten and strangely hopeful. The sky that evening was impossibly blue, with swirling, luminous clouds that felt like they were lifting the whole scene upward.
This painting comes from that unexpected discovery, a glimpse of something familiar yet newly revealed. For me, it holds that bittersweet mix of nostalgia, solitude, and quiet resilience that old places often carry. I hope, as you look at it, you can feel that same sense of wonder at finding beauty in a place you thought you already knew.