Near Lake Wanaka, the lupins bloom in great sweeps of pink and purple that stretch as far as you can see. We pulled over by the side of the road and stepped into them -- surrounded on all sides by bursts of colour, the lake and mountains rising in the distance beyond. There was nothing to do but stand there and take it in.

This painting, part of the Amongst the Nikau series, holds that feeling: the looseness of it, the joy, the sense of being inside something beautiful rather than just looking at it. The small cluster of green and magenta marks in the lower right corner -- those are the lupins. Everything else is what it felt like to be among them.