Paintings that are connected to real life really resonate with me. This painting is about my past, my present, and how much they have in common.

I was inspired by pictures I took this summer in my home town in France. The windows of my childhood home, the wood door of an old limestone building in a narrow path, the stone walls in every street and every yard… These all became the background, and really started this painting. The hand-made, torn fragments of brown paper represent the kitchen table (which has seen it all!), and the wrinkles in the paper symbolize the passing of time.

My central motif jumped right at me when I returned to the US that summer. My sunflowers were out, the hydrangeas in my yard were blooming, and the sun was shining brightly. Making this bouquet reminded me that no matter where I am or when, no matter how differently this could be happening, I was still walking around, picking beautiful flowers, putting them in a vase, displaying them on a kitchen table, and enjoying the moment. This overlap between the bouquet and the background starts a conversation about moments of the past and the present, about moments in France or the US or anywhere else in the world: Now and Then, Here and There.

What does your bouquet look like?