Dedication page: A collection of Monet-inspired studies.
Water Lilies… my first oil pastel. A rendition of Monet’s most famous paintings (1903-1908). It doesn’t come close, but it shouldn’t have to. For N.M. and R.S.
Housed at the MoMA in Manhattan, my second attempt at Monet’s Agapanthus (1914-1926)— a plant native to Africa— is dedicated to M.J. Here’s to trial and error, starry nights, and “OK I like it, Picasso.”
Drawing this brought out my inner child. I felt like a 3rd grader who colors outside the lines. Like the rest of my artwork, this pales in comparison to the original, Tulip Fields at Sassenheim (Monet, 1886). Irregardless, I was inspired by my oldest sibling, a visionary and painter, who taught me the magic of pencil and paper when I was little.
The Path through the Irises (Monet, 1914-1917), reimagined.
To M.T., a love I follow.
Poppy, my sister’s daughter, turns one this year. I drew this for her. The Poppy Field Near Argenteuil by Monet (1873) portrays two pairs of figures — a woman and a child — walking through the meadow. Instead of including them, I wanted Poppy to emerge as a seedling—the one we watch take root and blossom. Like a flower among flowers, she becomes the garden itself: not someone merely observed within the landscape, but the reason we stop to look and admire.