The Botanical

The Botanical Series

 “I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful.  An endless prospect of magic and wonder.” ~Ansel Adams

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ~Rachel Carson 

The varied worlds I create in The Botanical Series intend to capture or emulate the gestures and unsayable resonance of the botanical world and our interaction with it in our coexistence within the community of nature.  I create abstract compositions that are often comprised of plant forms, elements from the landscape, and jubilant color combinations that recall gardens bursting into bloom, hidden meadows, or forest ecologies. Luminous shapes and lines meander, change color, and joyfully transform within the search for what wants to be expressed within the work.

As I prepare to paint, I mix up a full palette of color derived from my memories of gardening and nature hikes across the United States and my travels in Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, and Japan. By repeatedly laying down the colorful gradients one layer at a time, I create radiant, light-filled compositions that speak to the “assurance” that is possible through observation and awareness of the natural beauty that surrounds us on every continent.  The dual presence, in the work, between the seen and not seen elements invites a fresh perception of everything that constitutes the work’s subject and materiality. My work is interactive, inviting the viewer to experience something of the “magic and wonder”  present in the natural world.