Patti Trout, Canadian Wildlife and Animal Artist

When I was younger, no one really talked about mental health, so I learned to hide it.
On the outside, I smiled, but on the inside, I felt small and never ‘good enough”.

Even when I owned my own hair salon, doing work l loved and surrounded by clients who were quite honestly, amazing people, I still questioned my worth. I brushed off every compliment, thinking they were just trying to being kind.

Then one day, everything changed.

My husband and I were kayaking on the Bay of Fundy, when a freak storm came out of nowhere!  His kayak flipped and sank a mile off shore, in seven-foot waves!
He was able to swim to my kayak and grabbed the bungy cord. As he clung to the back of my kayak, his weight made the waves of water start to pour into my kayak.

I remember thinking,
“So… this is how we die.”

To my amazement, instead of giving up, I slid my body to the front of the kayak, lifting the back of the kayak just enough that the next wave went around it… and then paddled with everything I had left!

In that life-or-death moment, something inside me shifted. Even with mountainous waves crashing around us, I found a strength I didn’t know I had.

That day, I realized I was good enough. I was capable. And I made a promise to myself: I would stop hiding. I would stop letting fear and self-doubt make my choices for me.

Painting became one of the ways I kept that promise.
Every time I stand in front of a blank canvas, that same voice of fear tries to creep in… “You’re not good enough.” But now I know how to answer it. I remember the waves. I remember the strength I found when I thought there was nothing left.

So, I paint anyway and seem to always discover more of who I really am.

I share this story because when you look at my wildlife and animal art, I hope you feel that courage too. A quiet reminder that even when life feels overwhelming, there is more strength inside you than you realize.

That you are enough.