Mandy Miller is both an abstract and a floral artist. She began painting in 2012 in oil as a way to navigate the "empty nest" as her children grew up and "flew away". Her first pieces were tight, representational and an attempt at "perfection." She wanted her pieces to feel like photographs and many did. As life moved on and changed, so did her art. She found freedom in the expression made possible in abstract pieces. She began to "say" things, important things with bright colors both in oil and with acrylics. She also began using watercolors. She loved how watercolors seemed to have a life of their own. She began to notice how many of her abstract watercolors began to take on floral characteristics after sudden and life threatening brain surgery. She dove headfirst into exploring the direction this took her art. Mandy felt there were lessons she could learn from flowers, both in nature and by painting them. She learned about what it takes for flowers to bloom, what occurs under the surface as they grow, and she learned that it is their actual variations in colors and their flaws and imperfections that make them beautiful. Each floral piece began to highlight "life's imperfections" both in the flowers she painted, but also with each vase and container that was created with cracks, flaws and textured imperfections. Flowers also have peek days of beauty and then began a process of steady decline after they are cut and placed in arrangements. She feels this reveals an aspect of human life also. This fact does not make those flowers or our lives less valuable as we age, it just highlights the importance of appreciating every precious moment available to us all.