With brush and oils, Monet spinned some of the most marvelous paintings in the history of art. Which brings me to a recurring thought, of a 'what if'. What if he were with us today, and he had our cutting edge, state of the art tools, say an EOS-1Ds Mark 111, 21.1 megapixel, full frame Canon camera, a Mac OS Leopard, with Adobe Photoshop CS4, how much better will he be, if there is such a thing? The rebel that he was, like his peers, Monet could well be a geek. How far would he experiment in pushing his creative genuis? How prolific, given the electronic speed? As a photo digital artist, I use the 'mouse' with ease, but no matter how much improved my skills, i will remain a mere fan wannabe to the great Monet. That's alright. I sleep with my one and only and that's more than enough.

Of all my favorites, from Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Helen O Keefe, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, if i were to re-live in another life, i will have to choose to be Claude Monet, less of course, the many heartaches he went through. I want to paint like him. If i had a time machine, i will travel to the year 1883, in France, when he, along with his wife and children, acquired a house in a 2 acre land, and built a greenhouse and a spacious studio, well lit with skylights. I want to experience the artist's home and his beautiful garden. Tis said, that toward the end of his life, Monet's attention shifted from his flower garden to the pond and water lilies. Those who have been there describes the place as a "joyous riot of color, abundant and flowing, a corner of nature just barely tamed, a paradise made to order by an Impressionist to please the eye and provide endless motifs to paint". And, that the best place to view the entire garden is from the bedroom of Monet's pink house with green shutters. In warm weather, the French windows are luxuriously thrown open, and visitors can survey from above the three acres of flowers and flowering trees.

It is said that Monet used to "write daily instructions to his gardening staff, precise designs and layouts for plantings, and invoices for his floral purchases and his collection of botany books". And as he got wealthier, his garden evolved. Even with seven hired gardeners, he would remain it's chief architect. This flowers were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. Many of the works were painted while he suffered from cataracts.

I dream of walking Giverny, with my camera, where Monet walked, along his garden path, stopping at intervals to meditate upon what he called "the mirror of water that changes its appearance every moment" with each passing cloud or breeze. I've shot lilies at Old Westbury Gardens in NY, Waimea Valley, Hawaii Botanical Garden, my Mililani yard and my daughters Pond, producing works I've been tempted to call "My Monet Moments". That's what they are, but i hesitate to do so, afraid to set myself up for flack.. The good news is, my dream garden still thrives, and continues to be enjoyed by an estimated 500 000 visitors each year during the seven months that it is open. It is permanently maintained much as it was in Monet's lifetime.I must go.

As the father of French impressionism, Monet was the most prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy, of expressing perceptions in nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. Water Lilies, or Nympheus is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings. On June 2008, another of Monet's water lily paintings, Le Bassin Aux Nymphea sold for almost £41 million at Christie's in London.

From 1860 on, Monet abandoned dark colors and worked from a palette limited to pure light colors. In 1905, answering a question about his colors, he said : "As for the colors I use, what's so interesting about that ? I don't think one could paint better or more brightly with another palette. The most important thing is to know how to use the colors. Their choice is a matter of habit. In short, I use white lead, cadmium yellow, vermilion, madder, cobalt blue, chrome green. Tha t's all.".

Which brings me back to my musing, if Monet were sitting where i am, with the tools that i have, Will he stay with his brush, or use my mouse? How will his lilies look like? Will he discover some new artform, like he found impressionism? Will he be distracted by the web, the way i am? Will he walk his garden less, and sit in the computer more? I hope not. I would like to think that we are somewhat like old souls, who share similar passions, and who delight in gardens.