When I began painting 30 years ago, my graduate degree   in botany and ecology informed much of my early imagery.,,I painted pond scenes, water lilies and lots of florals.   As I matured, I moved into collage, mixed media and printmaking, and paid attention to content, while following an experimental and abstract approach to my painting that remains with me still. However, the beauty of the light on wildflowers growing on our farm caught my full attention and I was forced to capture that feeling on canvas.  I justified the return to realistic painting and florals by texturing  the surface of the canvas.  I call this series Le Jardin Stuc. I revisited another series, Field Studies, which resulted in several  collaged  monotypes.