Emily Dickinson wrote, "Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door..." Everything great that has ever come into my life has been a result of taking a risk or some giant leap of faith into the new and unknown. And so, after decades of portrait commissions and painting for exhibitions, I circled back to a story that began forty years ago when I climbed into a wet suit, big fins, mask, heavy air tank, weight belt, breathing tube and regulator and began my training as a scuba diver in a cold New Jersey lake. I was fearful, clumsy and not myself. I had to learn how to make it all part of me. After all, I was becoming a fish! Had I not faced my fear of scuba diving, I would not have discovered the beauty and mystery of the coral reefs. I would not have those images and feelings of that world 40, 50, 60 feet down that prompted me to write and illustrate a children's book about it 40 years later. And I would not be holding my published book, Mirabelle and the Sea Green Bathtub, Journey to the Coral Reef. The little girl in my story must also take a risk before she can fulfill her heart's desire to swim with the fishes. Her curiosity and trust overcome any fear, and she sets out on her life-changing adventure with a new friend who helps her discover not only his water world, but also her personal power and courage. For the last 3 years, my journey has been Mirabelle's...her adventure, wonder, sadness and trust. Trust in herself and the difference she might make for the fragile coral reefs in Florida and around the world. Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." Edgar Degas Suzanne Elizabeth Murphy is an artist, author and educator. After a decade in NYC and another decade building and living in a straw bale house in Colorado where she first began to paint on canvas, she moved to Florida in 2008 and founded Open Sky Studio & Gallery in Tarpon Springs. Suzanne has taught painting in many venues and served for 3 years on the Tarpon Springs Public Art Committee. Her work is collected across the U.S.
