Commission – This piece stretches vertically, a striking five feet tall. Its unusual proportions made the blank canvas feel daunting, and for months I found myself simply walking past it, waiting for the right place to begin. Since it was a commission, I eventually had no choice but to dive in—laying down the first washes of sky and water.

The bird became the heart of the painting, though it resisted settling in. I repositioned it many times before it finally felt at home on the canvas. Once the egret took its place, the rest of the scene seemed to flow naturally, unfolding around it.

The egret itself is a composite, born from years of observation and photographs I had taken—each detail stitched together until the bird felt alive, poised in its watery world.