My favorite part of the artistic process is walking through the woods and experiencing the awesome beauty and peace found in nature. Finding a wildflower in bloom is especially awesome. These are flowers that no human hand has planted nor tended, which is why I consider them as “God’s Garden.” They grow in community, relying on other plants, insects, and microbes. They are tough survivors of the seasons, of droughts and of floods, and yet they are extravagant in their beauty. This is why I find them so inspiring, and why I wish to share this inspiration with you.
When I find these treasures, I take several photographs of the flowers, always including their habitat. It is important to me to show them in their specific environment, to try to depict the breadth and depth of nature.
When planning a painting, my main objective is to share my experience in nature. I combine and/or crop photographs to best depict both the flowers and the habitat. I may rearrange, leave out, or add some elements. As some flowers are so small and easily overlooked, I often depict them proportionately larger. Sometimes I combine viewpoints to best recreate the experience. These artistic choices make my paintings much different than my reference photographs.
After drawing in and masking the details of the foreground, I choose colors to pour and layer in the background. Using a variety of methods, I hope to let the watercolor paints create the foundational textures. Only then do I pick up a brush to add depth to the background and detail to the foreground.
It is my hope that viewing these paintings takes you back to your peaceful memories of nature or inspires you to find joy in the wildflowers blooming by the roadside. Or to ask yourself, if a wildflower blooms in the woods, and no human eye beholds it, is it still beautiful?
