Painting & Plants: Contemplations

My paintings reflect my own personal oasis, but this does not mean they are escapist in nature; by representing botanical life I am confronting the very nature of existence: ephemerality. Plants are a potent symbol of impermanence. While it is soothing to stare into tangles of green leaves and bright blooms, it also creates a sense of longing for some kind of stillness or certainty or foreverness. We are momentarily overwhelmed by the magnitude of life’s mysteries. 

I focus on the constant movement and intense moments of vibrancy of these botanical life forms. They strike a spiritual chord within me. It is important to me that the brushstrokes are intentional yet spontaneous, efficient yet passionate. Painting in this manner requires mindfulness and some kind of musicality.

The visual evidence of biodiversity is rich and dazzling. This includes animals and insects. Everything is moving and breathing all around us. Even the air is alive.

Ultimately my work asks, “How can one fully appreciate the beauty of a living thing? Where do I end and you begin?”

We are the frog on the lilypad and we are the fly in its belly; we are the algae teeming in the waters and we are the water and we are the bubbles moving through. 

When you are down there floating, look up and witness light coming through the water’s surface, a prism, and notice the rainbows and glimmers flashing across your vision, and remind yourself that it is all a mirror, that the beauty is you.