Liz’s preferred medium is watercolor, which she loves for its transparency, versatility, and luminous quality. She often hears that realism is not commonly associated with watercolor. While some artists favor a looser style, Liz’s paintings reflect her desire to capture her subjects and surroundings with precise detail. Because watercolor is such a versatile medium, there’s really no limit to what can be achieved.

Her palette is a carefully curated selection of transparent and semi-transparent pigments. She preserves the whites of the paper by leaving them unpainted.

Liz achieves a realistic look through multiple washes and layers. She begins each painting with a thin wash, using an underpainting technique to establish tonal values. Then, using a wide range of watercolor techniques, she paints in layers, meticulously building the intensity and depth of color. Small paintings may take several weeks to complete, while larger pieces can take months.

Liz is passionate about portraying plants with botanical and scientific accuracy. She strives to capture a high level of detail while highlighting the delicate beauty of each plant—beauty that is often overlooked in everyday life.

For Liz, botanical art is the perfect way to combine her love of nature, plants, and art.

From as early as she can remember, Liz’s happiest childhood moments were spent connecting with the natural world. As a child, she would pause to examine everything outdoors, discovering fascinating details in even the smallest things. She admired raindrops sparkling like diamonds on flower petals and watched with curiosity as honeybees rolled around collecting pollen.

Botanical art is also a meaningful way for Liz to honor her Chuvash roots and heritage.

Chuvash people are indigenous people of the Atăl River (Volga River), a Turkic ethnic group, and an ethnic minority. They are considered to be the descendants of semi-nomadic warrior tribes, the Huns. Living in the forests and meadows of their lands for millennia, in unity with nature, they were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. The Chuvash people have rituals and festivities that revolve around the cycles of planting, harvesting, and seasonal changes. These rituals and festivities serve to reaffirm their spiritual relationship with nature. Moreover, traditional medicine has always played an important role in Chuvash communities. Medicinal herbs and plants are used in healing practices to treat various diseases. Liz’s Chuvash grandfather had an extensive knowledge of plants and made his own herbal medicine.

Indigenous communities and ethnic minority groups all across the world have been impacted by technological advancement and urbanization. These days, Chuvash people are moving from villages to cities to find better education and jobs. Unfortunately, this comes with the loss of their cultural identity and their relationship with nature. Liz believes that her ancestors’ connection with nature was precious and profound, so it’s no surprise that plants became a subject matter of her paintings. Botanical art celebrates unity with the environment, promoting a sense of balance and connection. Plants may not seem that important to us in our everyday lives but all living organisms need plants in order to survive.

Learn more about this topic in my blog post.