If you look closely at a tree you'll notice it's knots and dead branches just like our bodies. What we learn is that beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully.

When I am finishing a picture I hold some God-made object up to it - a rock a flower the branch of a tree or my hand - as a final test. If the painting stands up beside a thing man cannot make the painting is authentic. If there's a clash between the two it's bad art.