Educated in marine biology and environmental history, I knew nothing about painting until a brain virus and later, a brain tumor, left me unable to use words. While attempting to write my doctoral dissertation, the neurologist urged me to let my brain rest and to instead ‘play with colors.’ When I began to paint, I found that lines, shapes and especially colors replaced words and sentences, allowing me to once again express myself. The colors I often ‘speak’ with are those from memories of years spent underwater studying whales and dolphins, and from work in tropical forests and the Sahara: sea blues, forest greens and warm desert hues. I am captivated by the rainbow of light that fractures the world into constantly changing tones and shapes, and grateful that painting frees me from the constraints of verbal thought, offering a healing space where I can speak in words of color.