Artist’s Statement: In these paintings, I aim to evoke serenity and warmth, a small glimpse into the detail that is found in nature. My hope is that the viewer finds rest within the work, engaged by the sense of detail and the movement that it offers.

My work is deeply inspired by my surroundings in nature. I am engaged in the subtleties of nature as I work in many layers of paint over time. I work with light, reflection, and the layered properties inherent in the natural world.

In each of these three paintings, I started with a drawn silhouette of a flowering branch or similar growth that is in the subtle process of change. I begin my work by experiencing my surroundings and taking photographs. From these photographs, I draw freehand to create a silhouette and then work intuitively in an acrylic under-painting to establish color and composition. I then work with oils to build up richness in color and overlapping layers that filter light and reflection within the work. The finished works incorporate open areas and more articulated botanical shapes that connect the many layers and depth of space. In these specific paintings, I incorporated three different types of foliage that are represented as the dark silhouettes.