I paint my passion - the beauty and wonder of botanicals, which has been the fabric of my life just as much as art has been. In my paintings of succulents, I closely study the shape, form, line and color of each plant, then I simplify the image with defined spaces, clean lines and blended colors. I use multiple thin layers of oil paint to create new and sometimes unexpected colors. Always the realist, I find that this technique frees me from the pressure of making things look too realistic. Still representational, my paintings lean towards abstraction in that there is just as much attention paid to the composition of the shapes and color as there is to the subject matter. I hope that you follow along with me as I explore the botanical and art worlds. Many artists paint the dark and twisted side of reality. I choose to paint the essence of beauty.