NATURE SERIES (1994-2019) - During a residency at AIR Vallauris in the south of France, I saw an almond tree in the neighboring town of Biot, resplendent with blossoms, mesmerizing in its complexity. As I would describe it later, it looked like Jackson Pollock had taken a walk in the woods. This image, which I found nearly on my last day in France, seems to have been the reason I came. It galvanized for me something I had been dancing around for years – the desire to paint something real, but approaching it as an abstract painter would. I wanted to know what I was looking at and yet engage with it the way you would an abstract painting – it’s not about the subject, it’s about how it is painted.