This year I am participating in Silicon Valley Open Studios 2026. It is a wonderful event that takes place throughout the month of May. My work will be at the gallery all month long, with works in progress and new piece being added throughout the month. You will get a pick at my studio.

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ARTISTIC STATEMENT | MY MOTHER'S GARDEN

watercolor works on view May 1 through June 31

 

Life.   A garden is life, it is birth, growth and death.  I have been thinking about these stages of life, we all know how this story ends yet we get caught up in the minutiae.  My mother’s happy place is her garden.  It is her masterpiece.  She has magical hands this woman, the best chef in the world.  She used to sew the the prettiest dresses for me.  Her eye for beauty is impecable.  Gardening is one of the subjects of her creativity at present time.  

 

With this series, I decided to come home, my childhood home, and home is my mother.  She holds my history, my birth, my development, my life experience.  Her embrace is my safety net.  How can a garden not blossom if all it is receiving is love.  She knows what happens if you do not tend to your garden, death sneaks in.   

 

“Begin with the end in mind”, Stephen Covey came to mind.  He talks about starting a project with a clear vision of what success looks like for you, exactly how you want it to turn out and the universe takes care of making it happen.  I thought, when death is present we focus on life.  When we know our flowers will die, we focus on tending to them, on nurturing, on enjoying them.  How do we want our life to turn out in the end?  Shouldn’t we keep death near to appreciate life? 

 

This is a work in progress.  I will be tending to this garden, adding more pieces to it, watching it grow, including the wilted and dead flowers and giving them their place to truly appreciate the beauty of the living.  My mother’s garden is her happy place.  She creates life with the seeds she plants, nourishes life, and enjoys her garden’s beauty.