We were meeting family for dinner so I had 2 hours to choose something from the endlessly magical grounds of Ringling Museum. As soon as I wandered into the banyan canopy, surrounded in a bubble of banyan- above, below and around, I decided I could paint banyans forever. It was a spiritual experience (everything is, but some things feel moreso) I felt like I was in the movie, Avatar where the spirit of nature was telling me how to paint her: 'Put more contrast here to make this part come forward'. 'Warm this part, cool this part' needless to say I love this painting.