24″x18″ pastel on sanded Board with oil underpainting 

Here is a photo of my underpainting, in my “mobile studio” 

Did you know Queen Anne’s Lace has a edible root, like a carrot? In my reading, I also learned a very important tip. Queen Anne’s Lace has a deadly look-alike, Hemlock. Even touching Hemlock can poison you, and ingestion means almost certain death unless treated immediately. As the toxins from the plant absorb into your system, you slowly become paralyzed, your respiratory system fails, and you die.  Below is an old illustration plate of the two plants side by side.  

If, in bloom, Queen Anne’s Lace has a tiny purple flower in the very center where legend says Queen Anne pricked her finger and dropped a single drop of blood on her white kerchief. If you get close enough to check out the bloom, you will almost certainly get chiggers. Old timers sometimes call the plant “chigger flower”

Even at the risk of itching or being poisoned, I am going to continue to stand in fields and paint my favorite wildflower.