Often paintings come from unexpected places. In this case, I was scouting and photographing the spring runoff in the woods on the flanks of Mount Mansfield when I noticed the fiddlehead ferns were popping up all over the place. I took a whole series of shots of these darling little plants, all coiled with potential and ready to unfurl. From these photos I chose this one with the ferns against a backdrop of a fallen log.

I really enjoyed the challenge of capturing this woodland vignette. I chose a small canvas to reflect the intimate nature of the actual ferns and kept the focus tight to make then the star of the show. I enjoyed this so much I will have to revisit my photos to see if there isn't another opportunity like this waiting in the weeds (sorry) :-)