April 5th, 2014
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 9 x 12 in
(sold)

It was a beautiful day but very windy, and I was not in the mood to paint. I only had an enormous canvas and I spent the first hour and a half just ambling around looking for something that would strike a chord and wake me up to painting. The search was confined to a very small area, because it was so windy most of the area was unfit for painting, especially with a canvas as big as mine, and an easel as light. Ultimately, I decided to give up the hunt – when a kind fellow painter offered to lend me a small board to paint on. I’d sooner ruin a small canvas than a large one, so I focused on the only thing that seemed interesting to me – the tiny blue flowers _ Squill or Scilla – that had valiantly shoved themselves up among all the dead leaves and grasses, and strove towards the sky. Small scale is difficult with the knife, it’s a study / sketch – on to the next.