Green has become one of my favorite colors. Not just any green, but the muted and deep, moody greens that seem to pull you in and invite you to look a little closer.
Wild + Free began with that love of green and a desire to explore one of my favorite gouache colors, Perylene Green. There is something about this particular shade that I find especially captivating; a deep, earthy green that feels both quiet and rich, and when applied in more opaque layers leans almost black. It was simply asking to become the focus of a painting.
This piece is a close-up study of the Cereus cactus, a beautiful cactus native to South America. I was drawn to its unusual branching shape and the soft, wavy forms of its features, but perhaps what captivated me most was the incredible variety of greens woven throughout it.
By the time I finished painting, I jokingly considered calling it 50 Shades of Green.
There is something wonderful about looking closely at a plant. From a distance, we might simply see a cactus. But when we slow down and really notice it, there are so many little details to discover—the curves and ridges, the subtle shifts in color, the way light and shadow move across its surface.
Wild + Free is my little celebration of all those shades of green and the quiet beauty found in nature when we take the time to look a little closer.
Sometimes beauty isn't found in one brilliant color, but in all the subtle variations hiding within it.
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