Composite painting of a model with Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

I am a huge fan of Van Gogh, and fell in love with him first through words while reading "Dear Theo," a collection of Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo. In reading his words, I learned of a man of deep emotion and with so much purpose in each work of art he created. He was highly intelligent and sensitive. I later followed his work more closely after visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2015. After returning to my home in Chicago, I opened an event space the following year and began teaching a series of art classes. I developed a casual "Painting in Paris" night, during which time I taught participants how to paint various Van Gogh paintings. I taught hundreds of students to paint sunflowers, vases with lilacs, starry nights, flower fields, and other inspiring scenes. This piece began as a painting I created during one of these nights, and later was used as the backdrop on which I added a model, bringing together my interests in Van Gogh's brushwork and the creativity found in costuming and fashion.