Status of Original Painting – For Sale

All prices are in Canadian dollars

Size: 16 x 22  inches

Price: Inquire

Medium: Watercolour on 300 lb Arches

Description:

I’ve taken a break from international scenes to present an iconic image of Newfoundland, with a reflected wharf, a rocky shore, and colorful lupins. The scene is off Northside Road in Holyrood, a town about 30 minutes’ drive from St. John’s, Newfoundland. Holyrood is known for its annual SquidFest, which features fun squid-based activities that culminate in a music festival.

I think I first encountered reference to lupins in the Monty Python sketches (1 and 2) about Dennis Moore, who steals lupins from the rich to give to the poor. Silly git. But as far as I can recall, lupins (also spelled lupines) are not present in Toronto or nearby Richmond Hill where I grew up, so I didn’t see them in person until moving to Newfoundland over twenty years ago. They’re a wildflower that grow at the roadside and in fields, and provide a lot of color during the late spring or early summer. In some places you might see a whole swath of lupins that are the same color, but in other locations you’ll see different colored lupins right next to each other, as depicted here.

I took the reference photos about a month ago, on June 28th, and additional photos of lupins around my home. Usually my paintings are based on one or two photos, but for this one there were about a dozen in total. Two of the overall scene with the lupins in focus versus the wharf if focus, another for the rippled reflection in the water that I liked, multiple photos of different colored lupins, and even more photos of their leaves. There’s a lot going on in this painting.