Beyond painting, I have a deep connection to flowers that informs my perspective. My floral knowledge came from my family, and there is something powerful about observing, cutting, caring for, and living with flowers that has been passed down for generations. These connections tie us to the past and to each other. My maternal great-grandfather was a Scot with a keen interest in botany and trees. My maternal grandmother had a floral studio in San Francisco where I spent hours playing with botanical bits and bobs. My mother never went a day without gardening or ‘foraging’ flowers for our house. I am as passionate about arranging and photographing them, as expressing their essence on paper. Here are some of my muses.