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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!