Madison, WI ARTIST STATEMENTI have always loved to garden and have been looking for a way to paint flowers in a mode that works with the way I paint using thin layers of color and looking for patterns in nature. By working larger than I had been and focusing in closely on a bloom I could look for patterns shapes and colors that I found interesting. I work from photos often taking several photos of the same flower at different times of day and looking at how the different angles of light affect the color and sculptural aspect of the flower. After painting mainly landscapes and water for the last few years, painting flowers has also allowed me to use a greater variety of colors. I’m not trying to completely accurately represent a particular flower but using them as a base for shapes and color from which I can go anywhere. BIOGRAPHYDeb Gottschalk was born and raised in Rural Wisconsin. She attended The University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, receiving a B.A. in art in 1984. Since graduating, her paintings have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Wisconsin and Illinois. She has been a member of the collective Artbite for over ten years. She is married to one husband and two cats.