I usually photograph my pieces outside on a cloudy day. Huckleberry watched.
I showed this painting at the Ballard Farmer's Market on a cold winter day in 2013. It had a gold leaf background - and was part of a series of organic farms and food. It was a celebration of the weird and wonderfulness of the Brussels Sprout plant. I remember thinking that the white stems looked like rib bones.
I haven't shown my work in public much lately as I have been taking commissions for large pieces instead. So this painting sat in my studio for a couple of years - looking kind of serious. Eventually I decided to lighten it up by layering silver leaf over the gold.
And then a fennel plant appeared.
The fennel is based on a series of paintings I made in the farm fields of the Snoqualmie Valley. This photos was taken at Full Circle Farm, near Carnation.
And these are from a different painting that I later painted over.
And then I added some tomatoes.
And here it is.
That's a basil plant at the bottom.