Three springs ago, I chanced upon this field at the foot of North Mountain off Back Road in Shenandoah County, Virginia. The sight of a blanket of purple covering the new green of the grass was enough to make me brake and pull off the side of the road in order to take in this entrancing view. I took a few photographs as reference for a painting but I’m less than satisfied with that painting (see below). Last spring, the field again erupted in a flow of luscious purple-blue color and I made it a point to drive by in time to again take photographs. Although I shot many images, none seemed to be something from which I could make a painting that fully expressed how I felt about this colorful field. This year Spring is very early so a few days ago I drove by the field to see if it was in bloom yet. The above photo is a view from this newest season of purple glory.
After much thinking and studying, it has occurred to me that my approach to this painting cannot be the same as usual. Something completely different is called for here. Hopefully, after thinking about it for three years, I have come up with a better idea. By the way, the plant is called muscari, or wild grape hyacinth. It is not a native plant but has escaped cultivation and become naturalized and established in fields and lawns throughout the area.
Above is the first and, so far, only painting I’ve done of the muscari field. Completed two years ago, it is called Muscari Field I.