Gathering Threads is a series of watercolors painted during figure drawing sessions at Hipbone Art Studio in Portland, Oregon. Painting another person is often a profound, connected experience. I often see the model as the artist to be encountered, not me. My decision to overlay botanical shapes arose from the idea of our interdependence with the natural world. To weave the two together feels to me like a gesture of love and mending. I chose plants from my neighborhood because they represent my connection to my immediate surroundings and the threads that tie us to nature.