They Said Yes! 🗝️

March 20, 2026

“It feels like unlocking another door, stepping into another space, gaining another key.”

Gallery at the Park in Richland, WA has become another kind of key for me, another place where something unlocks. It made me think again about the skeleton keys I keep, the ones I hold and study for their history, their purpose and their quiet mystery.

I held one in my hand recently, admiring not only its design but its past. What it has seen. What it has opened. How many times it granted someone entry into something precious. The charm of an antique like this can only be earned through time and use.

Skeleton keys fascinate me. I feel their energy, the ghosts of those who searched for them as a means of access or protection. They outlive their makers and their keepers. The metal softens, the edges wear, the patina deepens. They remain mysterious objects of human control.

They have become symbolic of my own path. I own a few now, and I often honor their quiet mystery and untold stories in my drawings. I know I only hold them for a little while, just as I only hold my artwork for a little while. Each piece eventually leaves my hands and continues on without me. I hope the next person who holds these keys, or my work, feels the same spark of meaning.

Last week, Gallery at the Park in Richland, WA said yes.

They said: bring your art and let people see it.

It feels like unlocking another door, stepping into another space, gaining another key.