As Valentine's Day approaches, I find myself painting with shades of pink and red. When mixed onto paper, these colors swirl around and somehow always end up in the form of flowers. It's almost as if whenever I've sat down to paint recently, I haven't been able to think of anything else but flowers - roses, tulips, hydrangeas, anemones and peonies.

So, unusually, a little birdie popped into my most recent painting: a cardinal perched on a cherry blossom tree. For me, cardinals have always ignited some nostalgia within me. Whenever I spot one of the bright red birds, I think of my grandmom.