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2026 FINALIST

Mary Sauer

b.

1986

Central City, Kentucky, United States

Currently based  in

American Fork, Utah, United States

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Caleb Clark.jpg

Let Us Grow Between the Cracks, Wildflowers Scattered by the Wind, 2025
Oil on Panel
22 x 40

Oil on Panel

This painting reflects the resilience of the human spirit – the way something delicate can endure, adapt, and even flourish in places where growth seems unlikely. The figure stands in stillness, yet there is movement implied in her hair, her clothing, and the textured space around her, as if she has been shaped by unseen forces but not broken by them. She represents the wildflower – not cultivated, not controlled, but carried by the wind and rooted wherever life allows.


The background is intentionally abstract and weathered, evoking stone, earth, and worn surfaces. It suggests the cracks in which wildflowers grow – the overlooked places, the broken places, the spaces where beauty appears without permission.


Her upward gaze is not one of defiance, but of acceptance. There is a sense of surrender to the wind, to change, to the unpredictable path of becoming. The painting speaks to the idea that we do not always choose where we are scattered, but we choose whether we grow. Let us grow between the cracks, wildflowers scattered by the wind is about survival without losing softness, about finding life in imperfect places, and about the kind of strength that does not shout, but continues to rise.

22 x 40

Caleb Clark.jpg

Click artwork to view details (it may take a few seconds to load)

Let Us Grow Between the Cracks, Wildflowers Scattered by the Wind, 2025
Oil on Panel
22 x 40

This painting reflects the resilience of the human spirit – the way something delicate can endure, adapt, and even flourish in places where growth seems unlikely. The figure stands in stillness, yet there is movement implied in her hair, her clothing, and the textured space around her, as if she has been shaped by unseen forces but not broken by them. She represents the wildflower – not cultivated, not controlled, but carried by the wind and rooted wherever life allows.


The background is intentionally abstract and weathered, evoking stone, earth, and worn surfaces. It suggests the cracks in which wildflowers grow – the overlooked places, the broken places, the spaces where beauty appears without permission.


Her upward gaze is not one of defiance, but of acceptance. There is a sense of surrender to the wind, to change, to the unpredictable path of becoming. The painting speaks to the idea that we do not always choose where we are scattered, but we choose whether we grow. Let us grow between the cracks, wildflowers scattered by the wind is about survival without losing softness, about finding life in imperfect places, and about the kind of strength that does not shout, but continues to rise.

22 x 40

Oil on Panel

Caleb Clark.jpg

Click artwork to view details (it may take a few seconds to load)

Let Us Grow Between the Cracks, Wildflowers Scattered by the Wind, 2025
Oil on Panel
22 x 40

Oil on Linen Mounted on Cradled Panel

25 x 30

This painting reflects the resilience of the human spirit – the way something delicate can endure, adapt, and even flourish in places where growth seems unlikely. The figure stands in stillness, yet there is movement implied in her hair, her clothing, and the textured space around her, as if she has been shaped by unseen forces but not broken by them. She represents the wildflower – not cultivated, not controlled, but carried by the wind and rooted wherever life allows.


The background is intentionally abstract and weathered, evoking stone, earth, and worn surfaces. It suggests the cracks in which wildflowers grow – the overlooked places, the broken places, the spaces where beauty appears without permission.


Her upward gaze is not one of defiance, but of acceptance. There is a sense of surrender to the wind, to change, to the unpredictable path of becoming. The painting speaks to the idea that we do not always choose where we are scattered, but we choose whether we grow. Let us grow between the cracks, wildflowers scattered by the wind is about survival without losing softness, about finding life in imperfect places, and about the kind of strength that does not shout, but continues to rise.

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