Sitting down at the easel desk with a paint brush in one hand, glass of cabernet in the other and pictures of far off places in her mind, Marti Green finds inspiration.

A self-professed professional amateur artist, she paints that which she has seen — from the Pacific Coast to the Eilean Donan Castle in the western lands of Scotland and even right outside the front door of her Port Orchard home.

“You can look in your own backyard and find beauty,” Green said.

Her easy-going collection of various scenes from around the world will be featured in watercolor form this month at the Sidney Gallery in Port Orchard.

As the Pacific Northwest air segues from slumbered darkness to the shine of spring, so too will that of the Sidney.

“I think people really appreciate seeing the florals and outdoor scenes during this time of the year,” said gallery operator Deb Danielson. “(Green’s) watercolors are really colorful and they lighten up the atmosphere.”

About 25 of Green’s pieces will be on featured and for sale through April 27. A reception for the pleasantly boisterous artist will be from 1-4 p.m. April 15.

“My passion is to sit in a foreign country, sit on the waterside and live the local lifestyle,” Green said. “When you go someplace and get so involved with the history and then paint it, there’s meaning behind that.”

Though her traveling experience has been limited for the most part to Western Europe and hot spots of the western United States, her painting knowledge is extensive.

It dates back to teenage years when she picked up painting as a hobby in high school. After studying business advertising and commercial art at Evergreen State College then landing as a banker in the business world, Green has found refuge in watercolor.

Now the 51-year-old devotes most of her time to art and her garden. Attracted by natural beauty, she said she has about as much passion for agricultural art as she does for that of the brush.

“The dirt is my empty piece of paper,” she said. “It gives me a break. Too much painting and you have to get away.”

Not long ago, painting was one of the only things she could do, she said.

In the late ‘90s, Green came down with an immune disorder that her doctors couldn’t quite diagnose, let alone find the cure for.

“It was almost like I was only at 35 percent of being able to do anything,” she said. After about six months that percentage increased, but it reached a plateau at 50 percent. “I lived for six years like that, and one of the only things I could do was paint.”

The intensive struggle for Green — which was later resolved with Japanese acupuncture — turned into a blessing for her watercolor scenes which feature Tuscany, the Bahamas, Napa Valley Calif., Vancouver Island, Lincoln City, Ore., and those from her own garden.