I went on a great trip to Peru visiting several locations (Lima, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco) and learning about the culture and history. As you know, I have been working on a series of works called Healing Garden. These works reference places in nature: spots in gardens, parks, around cities. They are an ode to nature and a garden in particular as places of awe and safety. 

Below are four works that mean a lot to me in terms of awe and safety. Peru is a beautiful country. The mountains are breathtaking and the nature so powerful and intense. So, that's the awe part. In terms of safety, I went on this trip by myself (with hotels and transportation planned ahead) and had the best time. I loved exploring the places and hoping around and most of all I noticed this strong sense of safety: within myself (I did not scare my own mind when I was in a new place) and around myself (everywhere I went, I was met with kindness and smiles). As a woman, a sense of safety (in any and all its meanings) is a big deal. And I lived it and witnessed it. These four works are an ode to places that allowed me to breathe, take in beauty, and rest. Enjoy!
 
​You can find these in my online store HERE. 
Healing Garden #46 - Sacred Valley, Peru
Healing Garden #47 - Larco Museum, Lima, Peru
Healing Garden #48 - Lima, Peru
Healing Garden #49 - Quinoa plant, Lima, Peru

​https://mocoshow.com/2025/08/21/largest-curated-fine-arts-multi-venue-show-in-the-u-s-comes-to-the-dc-region-this-fall/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMY0IlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhPPmnuU71tKAFaG9XROZGKXTG_g13IWu6TewCKrj9BDaL84eO29LNOFXqJF_aem_Y1N-22WCohCnPQo3sQA9Cg

The Healing Garden series presents vibrant, abstract floral compositions inspired by the emotional sanctuary a garden provides—a space of joy, wonder, and safety. Rooted in cherished memories of my grandmother’s garden in Prague, each piece combines vivid colors with intricate patterns to evoke a sense of beauty and restfulness. What began as a personal reflection on one beloved garden has now blossomed into lively conversations with family, friends, and neighbors, about what gardens mean to them—transforming memory into shared connection and healing. ​Read on to see the inspiration and my finished Healing Garden artworks available HERE.

This work celebrates the beauty of the C&O canal. My husband and I went on a day trip and I snapped this photo of blooms in Hancock, MD.

A friend shared this wonderful snipped of her garden. I love the size of the bloom and the geometric reflection of the fence adds drama!

On a stroll through Kensington, MD, where I live, I took a photo of these gladiolas. What stunning beauties!

And a huge thanks to the crew of the Town of Kensington. They keep the town so lovely. I just had to paint this local park beauty!

Thank you to my collectors who purchased Healing Garden #18 and Healing Garden #27 at the Paint the Town art show in Kensington, MD, this past Labor Day Weekend! 

This pastel by Tracy titled "Together" has been claimed. Congratulations, Tracy!

​Tracy Whiteside (b. 1934, Troy, North Carolina) discovered her love for art early on. In elementary school, she was often her teacher’s go-to student for classroom drawings—frequently invited to create artwork on the blackboard in front of her peers. Throughout her life, creativity has remained a constant. While living in Baltimore, she continued to nurture her artistic practice. A memorable trip to Japan left a lasting impression on her pottery, and one of her proudest moments was exhibiting her work at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. A seasoned traveler, Tracy often carried a sketchbook with her to capture the world as she experienced it. For the past 10 years, she has called Knollwood home, where she continues to create with passion and curiosity. When asked why she paints, she reflects: "It’s hard to explain—it’s just something I want to do. You’re walking down the street, and suddenly, you have to draw that!" While she primarily works in pastels, Tracy enjoys experimenting with a variety of media.

I love being outside and thus, it's no surprise, creating outdoors is good for my soul. I created Healing Garden #35 entirely outside on a camping trip to Lake George, NY. The inspiration is a photo from my cousin: this is a rose growing in her garden in Prague, CZE. Inspiration from across the ocean brought me back to my hometown while allowing me to explore new places and bring to the world something entirely new. 

My Healing Garden series is not about realistically capturing specific flowers or gardens. I view the inspiration: nature's creations as a source of healing, rest, and energizing our souls. My cousin's joy of her rose bush brought me joy. I sketched some elements of the photograph but as you can see from the photo below, I don't always even stick to the sketch. There is space to be flexible and adjust the sketch once I start working in acrylics. This artwork is created on a 16x20x1" black canvas: a great surface to hold bright colors and patterns. 

This painting was created entirely outdoors: I am so happy about that! By the fire in the evening, on the lake beach during the day, with the setting sun in my back. I am grateful for this experience! Enjoy and check out this work on my website HERE. 

I recently had the pleasure of creating a commission for a client. What a cool experience! His wife is an avid gardener and he kindly thought of my Healing Garden series as a perfect gift to celebrate her green thumb and his love for her. I am honored. 

Having been given this photograph of a special section of the garden, I had a wonderful source of inspiration. My Healing Series is all about gardens as sanctuaries of joy, awe, and safety. This photo captures it all: colors, variety, liveliness! My client opted for a black canvas, which is an exciting surface to work on. It lets the colors stand out and tells a visually powerful story in the end. I started by sketching some of the elements of the garden. I don't aim for realism; rather I enjoy grasping the ambiance of the space. Colors quickly turned the sketch into an exciting sight. And oh my, when patterns were added, the garden truly came alive! 

As I work on my Healing Garden series, I take notes of what gardens means to people. So many stories! When I delivered this work to my client, he exclaimed: "Oh, she will love it." What more could I ask for! This painting was a lot of fun to work on. It provided me with an opportunity to rest in the beauty of the pictures garden and also to create a meaningful celebration of the space. I am grateful for the connection we make through nature's beauty. 

Interested in a commission? Have a garden or flowers you love? Contact me to chat details. I have several sizes, mediums, and pricing options. Let's create together!

I am excited to exhibit, for the first time, my new series “Healing Garden” at the Chesapeake Framing Company in Kensington, MD, during the month of July 2025. Together with my three students, Rose, Ruth, and Blu, you are invited to enjoy a lovely variety of artworks.
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​What is the “Healing Garden”? This series of paintings—created in acrylics on a variety of surfaces including Yupo, watercolor paper, canvas, and black cardboard—is a tribute to gardens. While the theme may seem broad, it began with a very specific place: my grandmother’s garden in Prague, Czech Republic. I grew up in a multi-generational household, and her garden, just steps from our home, was the heart of my childhood. It was a place of abundance and peace—where freshly picked fruits and vegetables filled our plates and fragrant flowers brightened every room. I remember lazy naps under the walnut tree, games of hide-and-seek with my brother and cousins, and the joy of sneaking strawberries we were told weren’t quite ripe. That garden became more than a memory; it became the seed of inspiration for this body of work. Over time, the idea has expanded to encompass all gardens—real or imagined—that offer a sense of joy, comfort, and sanctuary. Today, friends send me photos of flowers from their local farmer’s markets, sharing how much happiness those simple blooms bring. Others proudly show off their home gardens, cultivated with years of care and love. It seems to me that we all, in one way or another, are searching for places of beauty and refuge—our own healing gardens.

Now that you know about the garden, let’s look at the healing part of the series title. With twists and turns in my personal life and what is going on in our world, I am creating this series to heal whatever may be healed: to journey through thoughts and hurts and joys and to keep living in a more conscious way. I focus on nature as it fills me up with hope and excitement. I focus on healing because it is crucial for a healthier way of living. I create and think of my grandmother, family, friends, and loved ones. I open space for processing of my inner life and I always, upon finishing each Healing Garden artwork, come out stronger and with a gentler heart. No matter what your story is, we can find ways to each other through beauty and pausing to heal.

The Healing Garden series looks different from my other artworks (check out my Visual Insights into Life’s Beauty and Embodiment Series): these new works can be achieved only through a slow and detail-oriented process. I reference photos and capture generic floral shapes and filling them up with bright colors and then adding lines and circles and more flowers. I am not entirely sure where this style came from. A combination of visual sights? Hand-painted eggs, Moroccan tiles, abstract art, Art Nouveau architecture in Prague, and many more things imprinted themselves in my brain. I am also playing with sizes and shapes: some paintings are on Yupo, others live on a large round canvas.
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I hope you enjoy “Artistic Bonds” at the Chesapeake Framing Company in Kensington, MD. Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. July 1-31, 2025. Come see the artworks!

I use photographs of actual plants and gardens as reference for my Healing Garden series. I love stories and gardens are just such a fantastic place for a story: of beauty, mystery, pause, excitement, and so much more. Gardens and flowers mean different things to different people so it's fun for me to use other people's photos as inspiration too. Read on to see how each of these Healing Gardens came to be.

A neighbor of mine posted this lovely photograph on her Facebook page and I asked her permission to use the photo as inspiration. It lead to the biggest canvas I created to date! This 24x30" artwork has so much detail. Check it out here!

This peony is my grandmother's and I got to see it bloom in person when I visited my hometown of Prague in May 2025. I think my grandmother would be pleased with how much her garden has meant to me and how it is now reflected in my creative adventures. Check it out here (claimed)!

While in Prague, these poppies stopped me in my tracks. I was rushing to catch a tram but then out of the corner of my eye, I saw these flowers and had to stop and cross the street. They were huge! The picture does not do them justice. And here we go with a fun colorful interpretation. Check it out here!

And one more moment from Prague - this purple poppy showed up in my sister-in-law's garden. I excited looking at it so much. It only lasted a day or two but that color was wonderful. Another delight inspiration. Check it out here!

And here is a random neighborhood walk inspiration: an all green sight that brought me much joy. The leaves of this plant are so delightful: bold and intricate at the same time. I had a good time turning them into hues of blues and greens with added pops of gold and silver. Find this work here. Enjoy!

I am proud to be showing my artworks with my students in “Artistic Bonds” at the Chesapeake Framing Company in Kensington, MD, during the month of July 2025. I have been fortunate to lead art workshops at the Ring House in Rockville, MD, for years. And thus, for years, I have had the pleasure of spending time with Rose, Ruth, and Blu. These women inspire me: their life experiences, gumption for life, and love of creating. I am deeply moved by their knowing me and trusting me. While we work diligently during our art workshops, we always find time to share personal stories. Moments from our lives, thoughts on living a good life, and navigating life’s ups and down, fill up the time.

As art educator, I bring a combination of art history and technique to my students. I love researching lives of artists (past and current) and sharing my findings. What does a workshop at the Ring House look like? We start by looking at images of artworks – these may be by the same painter or they may be on a topic several artists have engaged in. For instance, we have looked at intimate portraits of women by Berthe Morisot and studied how a variety of painters capture pears (indeed, many did). We then grab our tools – watercolors or acrylics – and select a work as inspiration. The workshops are not about copying an existing artwork. They are about learning what made a particular artist interesting and using the theme to bring out own unique skills. Some students merge the inspirations, others form a brand new idea. We work quietly at time; we laugh at others. The hour and a half together brings us closer together as creators and as human beings. There is much vulnerability and strength to be creating in a group.

Who are Rose, Ruth, and Blu? While age does not matter, it is of note: Rose is 101, Ruth is 92, and Blu is 96. Hence, they are all at least double my age. If they mention they learn from me, let’s just be hones: I learn much more from them. They mark their daily activities calendars and often beat me to the art room awaiting the next topic eagerly asking: what are we working on today? While Rose often jokes that she likes to “patchke”, these workshops are taken seriously. There is no lowering of stardards as one ages, there is eagerness to create well and beautifully. Rose, Ruth, and Blu ask questions: often putting my level of researching to shame. They want quality in all respects.
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Over the years, they have developed unique styles. Rose works in watercolors with lightness and in soft colors. Her artworks carry a subtle sense of humor. When she finishes her painting, she sits back and holds it up admiring her achievement. Blu brings art to life through amazing brushstrokes: I feel like I can see Henri Matisse’s aesthetic in her works. She has a keen sense of space and when her work is completed, she looks up and says: “Well, thank you for today.” It’s lunch time and she goes off to her next activity. Ruth, who prefers working in acrylics, is a meticulously attentive artist: she looks deeply at her inspiration, sketches with attention to detail, and then she delves into bright and intense colors. When she asks: “when will we see you next?” I smile: what could be a better compliment?  

Ruth Birnbaum (b. 1933, Haifa, Israel) grew up with an artist father and was always surrounded by art.  In the 1960s, she moved with her family to the U.S. where she went back to school and got a doctorate in Jewish studies. Family, work, and other matters stopped her from creating for a bit but she started painting again upon retirement. She has lived at the Ring House for 7 years: she brought along her own desk to work at and to have “her corner.” She find art to be the best vehicle for emotional relief, thus a unique expression of feelings. She paints a variety of topics: moments from her travels, photographs from her family, aspects of Jewish life. When times feel hard, she “goes downstairs to the studio and paints.”

Charlotte Blu Berman (b. 1929, New York City, NY) has been doing art work since high school and recently sold one of her paintings at a senior art show at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington. Having lived in New York and Connecticut, she moved to the Ring House 7 years ago. To her, “art is part of her identity. It’s a joy.” Blu is immersed in the art group in addition to being a life-long writer of stories. When asked why she creates, she said “it’s like asking me: why do you breathe?” She enjoys portraiture.
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​Rose Grossman (b. 1923, Cincinnati, OH) fell in love with art in high school and has been an avid art museum goer all of her life. While busy with life and her nursing career, she tested out a variety of media: pottery, collage, paper beading (jewelry), embroidery – the list could go on. She lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, and moved to the Ring House 18 years ago. She loves to create – or as she labels it: she “loves to patchke. It’s a joyous expression.”

As people, we hold similar values: connection to family, curiosity about the world around us, and unwavering belief that creating art is essential to quality life. We all come from different backgrounds, yet our conversations have brought us together. Rose, Ruth, and Blu have lead lives that would make for wonderful books, and what’s more, they keep living in ways that makes these books unfinished and thus endlessly interesting.
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I hope you enjoy our art exhibition “Artistic Bonds” at the Chesapeake Framing Company in Kensington, MD. Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Come see our works, ask questions, and meet these fascinating women!

The show is up! Please stop by The Chesapeake Framing Company through July 31 and enjoy the works of my students (Rose, 101; Blu, 96; Ruth, 92). The ladies would love to hear from you: leave a note Beautifully curated and hung by Jackson Margolis. Reception is on July 12 (3-5pm) ​

In March 2025, I taught a workshop at the IDB Art Club in Bethesda, MD. Enjoy this wonderful online art exhibition of the completed works! 

Having worked together for years at the art studio at the Ring House in Rockville, MD, Martina, Ruth, Blu, and Rose, present “Artistic Bonds”. Enjoy a selection of their artworks that celebrate their creative time, love of art history, and joy they find in each others’ company. Through their varying life experiences, backgrounds, and ages (44-101), these women show the unifying quality of curiosity and artistic expression at the Chesapeake Framing Company in Kensington, MD.  

 When?
July 1 through July 31, 2025

Where?
 The Chesapeake Framing Company
10507 Metropolitan Ave, Kensington, MD 20895
Opening hours: Monday through Saturday - 10am- 6pm; Sunday - Closed

Tuesday, Oct 14 at 2 pm - Self-Discovery in Collage: You As Landscape
Join art educator Martina Sestakova for a workshop, during which you will be guided to create a paper collage of a landscape that reflects who you are at this stage of your life. As humans, we seek safe and joyful spaces and you get to assemble one in magazine cutouts on a 9”x12” board. No experience needed; all skill levels welcome. All supplies provided. OASIS in Bethesda, MD.

Tuesday, Nov 18 at 2 pm - Self-Discovery in Collage: You As Archetype
Join art educator Martina Sestakova for a workshop, during which you will be guided to create a paper collage of a being that showcases what makes you a unique self. You get to assemble a collage in magazine cutouts on a 9”x12” board. No experience needed; all skill levels welcome. All supplies provided. OASIS in Bethesda, MD.