“Begonia”, 36x36 inches, oil on canvas, $1,500. Purchase through Sophiella gallery .

“Oak (Tissue)”, 30x30 inches, oil on canvas, $1,000. Purchase through Sophiella gallery .

Since a painting is like a window into another world, I thought this was the best way I could describe that world- a world where a decaying leaf is a stained-glass window, all its parts laid out like a kaleidoscope, with the sunlight as its lifeblood, saturating them and painting the person looking at them in fiery romantic hues, transporting them to a hallowed place.

In this world, a begonia leaf with its white polka dots and red underside becomes a crushed velvet fan with white windows, letting the light bleed through in sticky vermilion drops, hot with the sunshine still inside. While I was painting its leaves, the plant bloomed and produced poppy-red heart-shaped seeds, as if it was taking its heart out of its chest and showing it to me.

I am interested in painting things that are real, but look like they could be abstract or like they are from another world. I am attracted to the unexpected compositions of naturally-forming images, such as the random-but-balanced way that fallen flowers arrange themselves on the sidewalk, or the infinite patterns seen in a leaf close up. These two paintings are inspired by the beauty glimpsed from the patterns and colors that emerge when a leaf is examined closely, held in front of the light.

Represented by Sophiella Gallery