Cold, dark walls made it feel more like a cave than a house. I was always trying to brighten the place up, without making any permanent changes, because we were renting. The focal point of the living room was a heavy gray stone fireplace with a brown wooden mantle. It needed color, but I didn't want to drill into the stonework in this rented house.

I began adding fresh flowers to my grocery shopping list. Realizing that one can never have too many flowers around the house, I finally decided to paint a big, bright happy bouquet that would never wilt, that complimented the colors of my living room, and that would gracefully sit on the mantle and lean against the chimney.

For the past so-many years, my artistic expression was limited to my culinary creations, because I was overly frugal with time and money. This was a great excuse to paint, however, as it fell under home decorating, and might even keep me from running out to buy cut flowers with such frequency.

So, I got out my paints and brushes, and I went to work on a painting to brighten that space. I loved the way it turned out. Painting felt so good. I considered how so many people these days are compelled to rent their home for various reasons. I painted more. Having an outlet for the right side of my brain felt so good.

Painting freely felt so good. I dropped my self restrictions, the standards that had kept my art in a frozen state for too long. I loosened up. I found that, for me, artistic expression through painting was akin to playing the piano – if I was reading the notes, I found it to be tedious and forced. If I play by ear, improvising, playing whatever travels from my heart to my fingers, the result was organic, part of my soul. I also found that the looser I was with my art, the more likely I was to squeeze it in to the corners of my day.

My paintings begin as a burst of color, words of a song, strips of paper from a book of herbal remedies. From this abstraction I see and draw out flowers in a field or in a vase. Each original piece sings with color and texture.

Thin pine frames are available for $20 upon request. Unless otherwise noted, a light, standard-depth canvas will be shipped to you, ready to hang.

Although I opened my shop a couple years ago, I added to and published my shop in the fall this year. I hope you enjoy perusing my work, and may it brighten your day!