'Silver Dollar' oil on hardboard

One summer afternoon, I was wandering in Dartmoor National Park in the south of England and spotted this colorful plant with its shimmering pods on the side of the road. Through the miracle of the internet, I was able to identify this wonder as Lunaria annua and to learn some of its many nicknames: money plant, moneyworth, penny flower, silver dollar. The Silver Dollar’s life-cycle transformation, from green, pink, violet, red, yellow, and orange to a solemn shimmering silver when dry, astonished me: I had to paint it.