Botanica

​

I have always possessed a love and fascination with flowers and the natural world. When I was a little girl my grandmother created a garden oasis in a Pittsburgh backyard. This was her escape from steel mills, grey air, and the grime of the city. She taught me to see the beauty in the small and simple things like the soft shimmer on rose petals or the sparkling diamonds of dewdrops on spider webs. As an Artist, I still see the world with the innocence of a child.

I only wish the rest of humanity could appreciate nature’s bounty instead of abusing it. We slice up parcels of land into boxes and lay down borders and walls. How can we claim ownership of something that should belong to everyone? We have failed miserably as stewards of this planet. We spoil it for future generations with pollution that is so bad that even our food is becoming toxic. Sadly we still buy Hummers and other selfish contraptions that offer us luxury, as we spew toxins into our environment.

Each painting, each box contains one flower, flowers that I see around me in Florida’s lush bountiful landscape. Some are lost behind clouds of smoke and others rise triumphant above the grid-like dandelions pushing through cracks in the pavement. The grid and the box represent the presence of man imposing straight lines and shaping nature to our desires. The series places these opposing forces into the same space reaching towards a harmonious balance. The push and pull between these forces becomes like a dance of pattern and rhythm for the eye and the color and formal qualities cultivate the soul.