The Story Behind It

Origin

I've always been fascinated by the idea that gardens exist in the dark too — that flowers don't stop being beautiful just because no one is watching. I started this piece during a particularly quiet period in my life, building layer after layer of color until the canvas felt like it was alive. The gold leaf came last, almost instinctively — pressing each piece in by hand, watching the light catch it differently throughout the day. This one took nearly three weeks and I didn't want it to end.

The Story Behind It

Origin

Growing up between Texas and Mexico, I was surrounded by gardens that nobody planned — wild, colorful, completely their own. This painting is a tribute to that beautiful chaos. I worked fast on this one, almost impulsively, letting my hand go where it wanted without overthinking. The dark background wasn't in the original plan but it appeared and suddenly everything else made sense. Sometimes the painting tells you what it needs.

The Story Behind It

Origin

I painted this after a period of personal transition — one of those times when you're not quite moving forward yet, just gathering yourself. The swan felt like the right image: powerful, still, ready. The colorful reflection underneath was my reminder that even in quiet moments, there is richness below the surface. This is one of the paintings I have the hardest time parting with.

The Story Behind It

Origin

My sister brought me a wildflower bouquet on a completely ordinary Tuesday and it was so unexpectedly beautiful that I painted this the same afternoon. I didn't sketch anything — just went straight to canvas with the flowers sitting right next to me. The blush background came from the light in my studio that day, soft and warm and golden. This piece is a reminder that the best things often arrive on ordinary days.

The Story Behind It

Origin

This painting came from a dream — literally. I woke up at 3am with this image in my head and sketched it immediately so I wouldn't lose it. The glowing trees felt like something between memory and imagination, rooted in the earth but reaching toward something beyond. The moon is gold leaf pressed while the paint was still wet. I finished it in two sittings and both times felt like I was somewhere else entirely.

The Story Behind It

Origin

This is one of the most personal pieces I've ever made. The woman in the painting is not a specific person — she's every woman who has ever carried something heavy and still found a way to be beautiful doing it. The gold leaf on her face took an entire afternoon, pressing each piece with my fingers, watching her emerge. The hummingbird arrived almost by accident — a small brushstroke that suddenly became essential. The golden heart at the center is the DoKo heart: the one we all carry, the one worth protecting.

The Story Behind It

Origin

I started this painting thinking about what it feels like to be on the edge of something good — that anticipation before a beautiful thing happens. The woman is looking up, eyes half-closed, completely at peace. Her gold hair took three layers of leaf to get the texture right. The two birds came from a morning I spent on my porch watching a pair of blue tits land on the same branch over and over. I couldn't stop watching them. Neither could she.

The Story Behind It

Origin

Swans have always represented transformation to me — the idea that grace isn't given, it's earned. This painting was made during a time of significant personal change, and the swan became a kind of mirror. The dark water, the teal depth, the colorful light beneath — all of it felt true to that experience of navigating uncertain waters and discovering that you are, in fact, exactly where you need to be.

The Story Behind It

Origin

Spring in the Rio Grande Valley is something else entirely — it arrives suddenly and completely, like someone turned up the brightness on the whole world. This painting is my version of that feeling. I built up the white blossoms with palette knife and texture medium until they almost lifted off the canvas. Standing in front of it, you can practically smell the flowers. The yellow sky is the exact color of midday light here in McAllen — golden, warm, relentless in the best possible way.

The Story Behind It

Origin

This is the most labor-intensive piece in the collection. I applied the gold leaf first — the entire background — and then built the flowers on top of it, one by one, over the course of almost a month. Every petal is painted individually. The result is something that changes completely depending on the light: in morning sun it glows amber, at night under warm light it turns almost bronze. No photograph fully captures it. It has to be seen in person.

The Story Behind It

Origin

I've been fascinated by the overlap between gardens and galaxies — both are systems of extraordinary complexity that somehow produce breathtaking beauty. This painting began as a floral study and became something more cosmic as I worked. The swirling movement in the composition came from watching time-lapse videos of flowers blooming — that same spiral energy that shows up everywhere in nature, from nautilus shells to storm systems. It ended up being one of the most meditative pieces I've ever made.

The Story Behind It

Origin

This painting is about the people in your life who hold your heart for you when you can't. The two hummingbirds carrying the heart between them were inspired by my relationship with my sister — the DoKo of DoKo. She's the other half of this brand, the other set of initials in the name. The woman's face is split between darkness and gold because that's what I believe about all of us: we are both things, always. The green landscape at the bottom is the Rio Grande Valley — home, always home.

The Story Behind It

Origin

This painting was born from the same stormy evening that inspired the original Above the Storm — but where that piece captured the moment of watching, this one captures the moment of rising. The hummingbirds are leaving the tree now, moving upward toward the cloud, toward something larger than themselves. I painted this on a night when I needed to believe that movement was possible, that even from the darkest ground something can lift. The rainbow underneath the tree is not decoration — it is the reason everything above it exists.