I was attracted to painting Berries and Blooms because of the wide variety of shapes and the strong contrast between the warm coral pinks and cool dusty blues in the floral arrangement. The most challenging part of the painting was the large pink rose in the middle. I learned how to work build the flower in layers, moving from dark to light. Eventually, I realized painting an exact replica of the petals was unnecessary, so I let go of being perfect and made the last highlights on the petals deliberately and confidently.