Mathew Westcott "I grew up in my grandmother's garden. She was a Cherokee Indian, and I was taught to see Nature as an integral part of me. When I was 23, I moved into the rainforests of Maui, where I still live, and grew gardens of my own. "I see the things around me repeating other shapes -- a small leaf the fin of a fish, a mountain, a waterfall, a boulder, or feathers. In my art, I try to place the shapes into a composition so everyone, from no matter what walk of life, can see what I see: secret places, power, beauty or love, but most of all, a heartfelt enchantment with our beautiful world. "A form placed in the foreground becomes a small stone, but placed in the back it becomes a towering mountain. A corner infers a secret place waiting to be discovered just ahead. In the far distance there's a world of new horizons. Your imagination and your artist within is the key to enjoying my artwork." "The nature scenes displayed here are made entirely of natural-color banana bark, with accents of sea grape on the smaller pieces. The banana plant is a large herb, a member of the grass family. As the tree matures, the outer sheaths dry and peel away. Those are what I use. The rough-textured pieces are from the outer surface of the bark; the luminous pearl pieces are from the inside. However, the most that photographic images can convey is an impression of my artwork. The three-dimensional nature and nuances of luminosity that change with the light go flat in photographs." Mathew's artwork can be found on Maui at... Maui Crafts Guild (Paia) and Hana Hotel Gallery (Hana)