Ross Bleckner paints flowers, but his art is a far cry from your typical sunflower still-life.

Ross's paintings are floral abstractions that arrange petal motifs and colors into gorgeous collages of texture and intrigue. They may not always resemble literal flowers -- but for Ross, that's sometimes the point. "It's not so much painting flowers as it is painting a memory of flowers, because then they last longer," Ross says. "It marks a commemoration of an idea of flowers."

A personal friend of Martha's, Ross took a floral image from one of her mid-'90s catalogs and used it to create a series of paintings called "Dream and Do." He continues to take inspiration from print media today -- his upcoming art book, "My Life in The New York Times," consists of meaningful newspaper clippings he's cut out for his sketchbooks.

Resources
Learn more about Ross and his paintings at rbleckner.com.