My mixed media pieces are always inspired by derelict, delicious Florentine walls –  shabby palimpsests tattooed with bruises and graffiti. I have a strange hobby – collecting chips of pigment that curl and crumble from buildings. I use a little make-up brush to sweep the colors into tiny containers so I can place them in antique farmacia vials on my shelf – vials and bottles that span the spectrum from black to white, from crimson to violet. The ghostlike hues (above) fall somewhere between gray and blue.