Growing up in a free-range, all-day-exploring childhood gave me so many opportunities to discover unexpected, wonderful little treasures.

The large, clear, quartz crystals that we would find in the freshly plowed cornfields after a hard rain. An arrowhead discovered on the pebbly shore of the Monocacy Creek. Peeling off the rough brown seed coat of a jewelweed seed to uncover the tiny, delicate, turquoise blue oval interior. Splitting slate open to reveal fossil ferns. Wonderment at the intricate bark beetle galleries exposed by peeling the bark off a rotting log. So many great experiences always accompanied by a delighted intake of breath... "Oh cool!"

To me there is nothing better as an artist than to have someone stop, look at your work, pick it up - look closer and say "Oh cool!" At that moment I feel like I have connected and have shared that glimmer of discovery that my childhood explorer felt... and that I still feel when I find an agate on the beach, or watch a cicada emerging from its shell.