My inspiration for this painting were the many varieties of wildflowers from our garden. I wanted to convey the joy and excitement of the blooms using splashes of bold color.

I sketched the large shapes of the coneflowers and various smaller flowers very loosely on Fabriano hot press paper from life. This results in unusual and creative shapes. As I began painting, I realized there were too many small shapes and I needed to focus on the large shapes of the coneflowers. The focus is on the design, combining sharp edges with soft areas. I used a large, flat brush loaded with bold colors and painted over many of the small shapes which were distracting.

The shapes were connected and were painted alla-prima, in one sitting. This energy conveys a lively, fresh watercolor painting. Limiting the pigments unified the composition, which is quite a challenge. Every bouquet painting is different — it just happens.