I paint portals of healing, insight and connection.

I often wonder how to best paint the picture of who I am. I am a graduate student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling & Art Therapy, I’m a lover and a fighter for peace, I’m an artist, I am a bipolar two & autism diagnosis that I constantly wrestle with, I am a poet, Libra + Scorpio Rising, reform Jewish woman, ocean lover, plant friend, shamanic practitioner, flower essence crafter, nerd, non-profit co-founder, and activist. 

I have many faces, and I have masked for many years of my life. I started to cry when I looked through my phone and found a screenshot of a picture that said “photo of woman smiling”. I had looked this up a decade ago to learn how to mask and pass as a “happy woman”. You see, I had a very traumatic childhood and I mastered the skill of “pretending to be okay” early on. Coupling this with living a majority of my life as an undiagnosed neurodivergent person, adapting myself to the needs of others became second nature. 

Due to this, I am a fighter. I am courageous. I am resilient. I had to find unconventional ways to express myself and find meaning within the pain. This is where my relationship to art blossomed. My mother always said art saved her life. I would agree with that. Art and Music. They have been my portals to other dimensions of love and peace. When the storms of reality set in, I run to the canvas and dance in her loving arms. As an art therapist in training, I have seen the immense healing power of art. 

I believe that every child deserves to know the gift of creativity. Every child is an artist, and every child deserves a home of acceptance and kindness. As a queer and neurodiverse woman, I embrace the intersectional nature of our identities, and hope that each person feels empowered to love every part of themselves. I want my future children to know a world where every ounce of their identity is celebrated.

I believe that art should be accessible, and this is why I welcome you into my “home gallery” — this is a little internet nook where you can enjoy the portals into my lived experiences. I deeply believe in the medicine found within sharing our stories with one another. I create art to express and process my journey, and to find deeper insight into my struggles and triumphs. I hope that you can find some resonance within my work, and that you are inspired to create more boldly and freely. 

If you enjoy my work, you can find originals and high quality prints available on my shop. As a future therapist, I will always have a sliding scale. I have done the same for my creations. You can buy the originals, which are of course valued higher. Or, you can buy a print — still luxuriously printed on fine watercolor paper — for $54 each. Triple חי — an ode to life and collective abundance.

My work explores many themes. Some of the prominent ones include: childhood sexual abuse, incest, sexual assault, autism and masking, mental health diagnoses, beauty standards, spirituality, intuitive healing, Judaism and earth-based practices, grief rituals, feminism & sexuality, gender norms, scientology and cults, and a collective vision for peace and creativity for all children.

For each art piece purchased, 18%  of profits will be allocated towards the development of a creative healing center for children in Washington State.

Chesed. This word holds so much. It is a Hebrew word that encompasses the essence of loving kindness. I hope we can all find a deeper sense of this compassion for one another.

Enjoy exploring the different portals!

XO

Sarah Miriam Lieb