From artist Erika Swartzkopf, "This painting, Trip Garden is my take on a mysterious, tropical, Hawaiian garden. The yellow and reds represent the bright, colorful flowers that jump out at you and catch your eye as you hike in the jungle. The blues are water motifs of waterfalls and the ocean, flowing with the greens of the lush Hawaiian forest. It is a secret garden, colorful and evocative of the beauty of the islands."

Erika Swartzkopf - Watercolor Artist

I've been in love with watercolors for over 20 years and enjoy the vibrancy and fluidity of the medium. I see my abstract art as almost a kind of sculpture in reverse. Instead of chipping away at a raw form, like in sculpture, instead, I am adding layers of colors of paint both bold and delicate, to create an abstract, three-dimensional illusion that jumps out at you and grabs your attention.

I am influenced the most by the two opposing yet happily co-existing forces in Hawai'i: jungle and ocean. My simpler, bolder pieces remind me of the ocean, while the more intricate, complicated pieces remind me of the forest in Hawaii and how mysterious it seems. Hikes in nature inspire my paintings, the shockingly large number of colors of green in a forest. A bright, pink flower in a forest is inspiring, when set against a backdrop of subtler greens. The Parrotfish in the ocean and its' stunning combination of blues, greens, purples and yellows, shimmering along, inspires fish-like, motion images throughout my artwork. The Hawaiian sea turtle's many patterns on its' shell are also inspiring motifs. I hope to share with the world my vision of color and fluidity with my abstracts