As a kid, I remember having a few weeks of private art lessons. I was taught to use pastels, and when the instructor asked me what I wanted to draw, I told her, "flowers, because fairies love them." I drew some pretty awesome flowers for a six-year-old. But I tried to move on from flowers and plants because that's not what other kids my age wanted to draw, and I didn't think it was good enough. I was competitive and wanted to show up the other little artists by drawing the same things they drew, but better. Needless to say, the competition got me nowhere. I came back to botanicals over and over again. When I picked up some high-quality colored pencils for the first time, I knew I'd found my medium. I could get such incredible, precise detail - more than I could ever accomplish with pastels or paint - and I loved the depth I could achieve with layer after careful layer of color. I couldn't get enough of it. There's something that keeps bringing me back to plant life - the delicate texture of a petal, the glossiness of a leaf in the sun, the warmth of bark, or the magic of flora in general - and I don't intend to leave it anytime soon.