"When I was on a museum trip, I bought a book on Botticelli. As I kept looking at the book, I noticed the colors, the hand gestures, the big feet . . . all the details that are characteristic of Botticelli. So I thought, 'Let's see how many Botticell references I can work in naturally.'

"The way the leaves of the greenery in the back are silhouetted is right out of Botticelli as are the flowers on the bodice. Even so, it's not a matter of how many Botticelli references can you find without looking them up. It's homage. It is an appreciation. Actually, it's a portrait of two angels who respect Botticelli so much that they have fashioned themselves after his work. They're not indulging in fashion trends; he's just their favorite and they love him.

"I wanted to be very careful about keeping a reverence for these angels - not a religious, supernatural reverence, but a very kind reverence. These are honest, genuine angels, who are honestly, genuinely intrigued by, and admiring of, Botticelli."