Botanical

In 1995 I signed up for a Japanese flower arranging class, with no idea how life-changing it would turn out to be. Everything about ikebana is different from traditional flower arranging. You come at things sideways, happen upon the beauty. Rather than focusing on the perfect bloom, it's the fallen leaves, the buds about to open, the sense of history and transience that matter.

 Translating that sense of history and transience into paintings, conveying the beauty in imperfection, is deeply grounding and joyful. When at work on this series, my breathing slows and my mouth waters.

A few years ago a fellow fine artist and ikebana practitioner entrusted me with her collection of papers — lovingly curated over decades of travel, many from Japanese paper makers whose craft spans generations. I was paralyzed at first by the magnitude of the gift. Once I started, something in the papers took over. I couldn't stop.