Artist Statement: Much of my artwork is inspired by the plants and flowers that I grew up with in my family’s nursery business and garden. Our home in San Leandro had three components: the house, the garden and the nursery. The nursery was my extended playground and later, my summer workplace. The garden was my quiet, tree-surrounded enclave, in spite of the constant hum of the nearby freeway.

The nursery no longer exists, and the home has been sold. In my artwork, I am preserving not only my personal memories but also the collective memory of a place and a family. Sources for my imagery include photographs taken by me and my father, items I’ve inherited, sketches I did in the past, my memory and my imagination.

A theme I find threading throughout all my paintings and printmaking, whether representational or abstract, is a sense of quietness. I hope that viewers of my artwork, without knowing why I selected the subjects or the stories behind them, will appreciate a sense of quietness and create a story of their own.