Almost overnight Maine fields and roadsides come alive with waving stems of lupines. Flowering stems of royal purple, lavender, pink, and electric blues rise up 2 feet or so above the grasses and ground covers forming swathes of brilliant color. You will see some in private gardens, but their real beauty is evidenced in the fields where the blue hues are contrasted against carpets of yellow buttercups.

Working to bring these magnificent flowers to life on a canvas was a delight. I choose a 16x20 cradled clayboard and worked  primarily with a knife mixing the paint on the board. 

My first blog post. Doesn't come naturally to me, but guess it will eventually. As I write I look out my studio at the winter landscape: snow, ice, and the stark beauty of the barren trees. If I weren't already a painter, I would want to become one to try to capture the myriad shades of browns, greens, and reds that contrast with the snowy ground and the intense sunny blue of the sky.