HAPPY PLACE is a collection of original oil paintings inspired by the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the wilderness that has shaped my life. Each painting reflects the peace, wonder, and connection that can be experienced in the natural world.
UNCOMPAHGRE PEAK
ALL IS WORMS collection
Oil on linen
50 x 70 cm
Available for purchase for $800
The fields began crawling. Grass became rocks, became mountains that touched the sky. The wind breathed into water and the water jumped into the reeds. I saw it all and it saw me.
ALL THE WAY UP
HAPPY PLACE collection
Oil paint on canvas
30 x 50 cm
Available for purchase for $400
The further up you go, the further out you can see.
NEXT STOP: HEAVEN
HAPPY PLACE collection
Oil paint on canvas board
24 x 30 cm
Available for purchase for €175
The train dropped us at an abandoned mining outpost in the middle of the Uncompahgre Wilderness. Everything smelled crisper, tasted sharper, appeared a little more vivid out there. The senses were heightened–an animal in an animal environment. Everything is more beautiful when you are a little more aware.
A PERFECT NIGHT
ALL IS WORMS collection
Oil on canvas board
30 x 40 cm
Available for purchase for $150
A perfect night requires only one thing: recognition.
THE WAY IT USED TO FEEL
ALL IS WORMS collection
Oil on linen
40 x 50 cm
Available for purchase for $550 – Sold
My life felt like a canyon.
Minutes wore away the rock like wind and water
and the further I went, the deeper the canyon grew.
Light struggled to reach me at a certain point and a choice was forced upon me.
Trudge on, deeper still, and hope for a clearing ahead.
Or, climb the walls. Find the light.
An entire lifetime can pass in this conundrum.
What you never know, until you try, is that the canyon is you.
It doesn’t want to lead you to darkness.
It wants to help you climb out.
Witnessing your efforts, the canyon encourages the tree to grow along the rock wall with footing enough to reach the next ledge.
Even the birds soaring above the plateau call for you to follow them.
“It’s all worms,” they sing.
It’s all you.
You can do this.
THE WAY I REMEMBER IT
ALL IS WORMS collection
Oil on linen
70 x 60 cm
Available for purchase for $1500
Squint your eyes just right and watch the mountains move.
They squirm and ooze and shift and even disappear.
“All is worms,” you say.
Then it hits you, why you placed the mountains there in the first place.
It had to be this way, and it was always perfect.
You just needed to stop squinting to see it all.
REACH FOR THE LIGHT
Oil on linen
30 x 70 cm
Available for purchase for $600 – Sold
THE WAY IT IS
ALL IS WORMS collection
Oil on linen
60 x 70 cm
Not for sale
If all is worms,
So, too, is the magic you’ve felt in your life.
Keep an open mind,
keep searching for magic.
Soon, you’ll know the magic in you.
joeywithabackwardsy.com 