My garden is finally blooming! My bees survived the winter! And my heart and mind are into something new - painting my own family members with the families of flowering plants. The first painting of this new series is called  "Queen of Amaryllidaceae Family". It features my beautiful daughter amidst the amaryllidaceae family of flowering plants, which include snowdrops, amaryllis, daffodils and alliums!

Where did this idea come from? Well, as a child, I wanted to become a botanist. This early dream of travelling, collecting plants, and drawing them is one that still lives in me. So for the past two months I have been studying books about plant classification and flower illustration. Many of them are wonderful but feel too "medical." And while I admire the detailed work - which is mostly done in watercolour - I was thinking about how to spice up the formality of botany art with emotion.

 Although I was definitely looking to incorporate emotions into this new series, I did not anticipate that painting a portrait would be so nerve-racking and emotional. I was so happy when my 2-year-old grandson instantly recognized the person in this painting and exclaimed "It's Mommy!" - my first attempt at portraiture passed the test of my most honest judge!