Tiny Explorer

Medium: Acrylic on canvas panel
Size: 8X10 inches
Location: Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas
Year: 2025

Painted during my artist residency at Big Thicket National Preserve, this piece captures a small moment tucked into the dense undergrowth of the preserve. A bee settles onto bright yellow wildflowers while deep greens and dark shadows surround the scene, creating the layered, humid atmosphere that makes Big Thicket feel almost hidden from the rest of Texas.

Painted outdoors from observation, this study focuses on the quieter details of the forest floor — the kind of scene easy to walk past unless you stop long enough to notice the movement among the flowers.