My inspiration for the flower series came during an eight-year residency as a visiting artist where I worked with children in kindergarten through 4th grade. I became very influenced by the simple way in which children will often draw and paint a flower using a circle or oval placed atop a vertical line. Combining these forms with my interest in Byzantine Icons, these "flowers" became portraits of my life living alone in the woods during those eight years. I still live and have my studio in those Arkansas woods. However now, my beautiful wife, two girls and two boys join me…