While I was making the Identity paintings, I became increasingly fascinated by how backgrounds made from natural materials, such as Christmas trees and various vegetation, transformed into abstract and intricate forms. (See the images from Identity below with investigational paintings at the bottom of the page.) I started exploring nature elements as a foundation for paintings using the technique described on the Artifacts page (link). A high school friend and prolific gardener in East Moriches, Long Island, generously allowed me to use his photographs as source material, which inspired the development of my Gardenscapes series. Gardenscapes served as a precursor to Artifacts, where I shifted to using my own photographs and personal experiences as the basis for my work.