Blog / 2026 / Forest Mind, Inquisitive Mind: Mural for American Fiduciary Services

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

[ME SPEAKING]

It’s easy to get stuck behind our eyes, to feel like our whole self lives inside our skulls. But our minds aren’t in our brains.

They’re in our bodies, and they’re in the space between ourselves and the people around us. Our minds are in our environment. We think with and through the world around us, changed by it.

So says the 2022 book by Annie Murphy Paul, The Extended Mind. And so say lots of people, including John, the CFO of American Fiduciary Services who’s a longtime appreciator and champion of my art and also the person who hired me to paint this mural.

When his company moved into new offices in Portland, Oregon, in 2025, John knew he wanted to do something special in the reception area. In his own words, he described the mural as a...

[JOHN SPEAKING]

“...gift to the people that come here instead of going out into the forest every day, because we have a righteous cause at AFS. We deserve to have a space where we can come and be proud and see this beauty every day.”

[ME SPEAKING]

John may have commissioned me with the intention of providing an environment that nurtures the minds of the people at his company—people who spend their time investigating financial fraud and helping to make our society a bit more fair—but he also ended up gifting me a space where my mind could stretch and grow.

This past year or so has been tumultuous, both in a global sense and in my own life. I’ve made plenty of art, for sure, but my creative practice has also felt fitful. The fact is it’s very difficult to focus when you have crappy landlords like I did. I’m talking about people who are forever chipping away at your sense of housing security, because they’re so busy fantasizing about fancy renovations and all the extra rent they can charge once they actually fix the place up.

So when John offered me the opportunity to concentrate on one large artwork for three weeks, I knew it was just what I needed for a reset, even though I didn’t totally know how I’d actually paint what he was asking me to paint!

I love the forests of the Pacific Northwest, but I’d never tried to depict them before. An ecosystem is a complex subject. Forests are full of life and light, and they’re also very special places for our minds. We connect with the green and the trees deeply. Time moves differently in the woods, and our bodies can feel present in a way that’s harder to pull off when we’re surrounded by concrete, right angles, and screens.

Forests open up our minds. People do as well.

Part of what was so especially lovely about working in this space was doing it in the company of the staff of American Fiduciary Services. They shared their work world with me, even inviting me to have office birthday cake with them, which is a special treat for someone who’s worked alone for most of their 23 year career.

But the experience was more than a sugar high. The people at AFS were curious about my work in such a way that it helped me see what I do in a new light. It helped me see myself differently. Alone in my studio, I’m just me. The solitude is comfortable for the introvert that I am, but it also allows me to forget that making art all day every day is extraordinary.

As I got closer to completing the mural, I invited anyone who was interested to add a few marks to the wall. I’d ask them their favorite color and then find a spot where brushstrokes in that hue would make sense. I’d talk them through the process, often encouraging them to touch the wall with a dry brush first, to get the feel for both the tool and the surface. And then they’d add their marks, each of them doing so with their own personal flare. I loved seeing how their individuality shone through naturally, without prompting or pretense.

I love that we made this space together.

And when I say that, I don’t just mean the reception for American Fiduciary Services: I mean the world.

My life is pretty different from John’s and from everyone who works at AFS, but, in our brief time together, we changed each other. They helped me feel grounded again in my artistic practice. Everything I create from here on out will be colored by sunlight through trees and the memory of an office full of lovely humans who are doing the hard work of unraveling white collar crime.

[JOHN SPEAKING]

“I just can’t even tell you the emotion, the good that this brings into this space. And it takes this corporate space and makes it something that is much more personal and real. It’s beyond my expectations. It’s incredible.”