Serena McRae: Watercolorist

When difficulty, hurt, and heartache are being daily battled, it’s difficult to see the good things. 

For Tuscon-based Artist Serena McRae, creating watercolor paintings that depict her desert surroundings has been part of her own healing process. 

“I find that the more effort that I put into skills and hobbies with an outward mindset, it’s hugely healing for myself and for my community.”

The art is more about the message it conveys and the overall time she puts into each piece rather than the final result.

“Even if the painting doesn’t come out as something stupendous that people want to buy or look at, it’s still been a fantastic process for myself.”

Serena has made it her mission to open up the discussion of mental illness and has used her art as a platform to talk openly about her own experiences with postpartum depression.

“I like to use my talents in the mediums that I have available to me to do what I can to open that conversation for other people.”

One of Serena’s most prominent inspirations for her artwork is the cactus. She observes the resiliency of these desert plants that thrive in the harshest of conditions and how that translates to women who battle with mental illness.

“If you have a good day, soak that good day up and enjoy it…give yourself grace on the times that it’s hard.”

Visit Serena’s website for more information. Follow her on Instagram.

This episode was filmed and edited by Peter Fuhrman.