The From Garden to Easel series, draws on a lifetime of gardening and painting, the two activities based on creativity and color. I integrate select organic materials from my garden into the paintings in this series. By blending encapsulated seedlings, seeds, and plant matter with earth and mineral-based pigments, I have broadened the range of materials in my paintings. What excites me most about this series is the process of preserving a young seedling and incorporating it into a plant “self-portrait” that reflects the plant’s vitality and essence.