A visceral and emotionally charged painting, Rachel Howard's *Mother (fear of fear)* employs a striking combination of oil, household gloss, and acrylic on canvas to explore themes of anxiety, vulnerability, and maternal complexity. The layering of domestic gloss paint alongside traditional fine art materials creates a tension between the everyday and the profound, with surfaces that shift between matte and high-shine passages evoking psychological unease. Howard's characteristic handling of drips and pooled paint suggests both loss of control and deliberate intention, embodying the contradictory nature of fear itself.