Nabataean Portal

oil, acrylic, and copper leaf on wood 12" x 24" This painting is part of a series inspired by the ancient Nabataean architecture of Petra and Mada’in Saleh — monumental doorways carved directly into stone, standing quietly in the desert for centuries. I’ve always been captivated by these structures. They feel less like buildings and more like thresholds — invitations into something unknown, something larger. In this piece, the architectural form becomes a metaphor for transformation. For the moments in life when something shifts. When you outgrow an old story. When a new perspective opens. When you realize you’re standing at the edge of a different way of being. Portals are not only dramatic life changes. They can be subtle awakenings, creative breakthroughs, personal evolutions. The kind that expand you. This painting is meant to hold that energy — possibility, courage, forward movement. A reminder that doors exist. And that you can walk through them.