This painting is called, “Sleeping in the Garden.” It is an acrylic painting that I made as a gift for my mother. I was inspired by a dream that my father had, where my mother was out in my garden, muddy and rolling in flowers and leaves. In this painting I added my daughter, then one and a half years old, who is affectionately embraced by her grandma as they take a nap in the garden.
My mother has single-handedly transformed our backyard garden during her vacations here. It is a place where her creativity and passion really shine. So when I decided to do this painting, I took photos of all of the flowers and plants in our garden and compiled them to create a secretive, very lush garden. I took separate photos of my mother and my daughter and sketched them on. Then I started with an outline of the painting and filled it in with various colors. I choose the colors as I go and each part of the painting has 5-10 layers on it.