My love affair with the vibrant colors of vegetables didn’t start in my own garden—it all began at a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) near Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Here, in a cellar built into the barn, baskets of all sizes displayed the day’s harvest. Including these green and purple cabbage.

The key to this large format painting was using a panel board as a canvas, and starting with a burnt sienna ground before starting. This contributed to the depth in the sea and the hard polyethylene plastic. One of my favorite moments in this painting is the sensation of setting a bearing on one of the far-off Sister Island, Williams Island, and Upper Goose Island.

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When handed a four-foot, double-sided PVC "canvas" to be displayed alongside works from two dozen Maine artists, I knew I had to stay true to myself and capture my version of the essence of Freeport.

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Inspired by the timeless elegance of John Singer Sargent's "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit,” and perhaps a bit of Normal Rockwell narrative, I wanted to capture timelessness. I opted to prioritize capturing the essence of the moment over exacting portraiture. I embraced the challenges inherent in the scene: from the impressions in the sand to the nuances of deeply familiar faces and the ephemeral qualities of the summer air.

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