Hudson Valley Seed Company offers heirloom and organic varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers, medicinal and culinary herbs and so much more. Each year HVSC holds a competition for artists to create an original piece of art for one of their varieties. The winners are granted a commission fee, their work travels in an exhibition called “Art of the Seed” and Fine art prints are available on their website, as well as the seed packets. I was honored to be one of the artists chosen for this year’s Art of the Seed packets. The variety I was given is King of the North Red Pepper—a cold hardy variety for those of us living in northern climes. The pepper also has a unique history—the heirloom seeds disappeared for this variety over a decade ago and the farmers at Hudson Valley Seed spent 6 years cross-pollinating (by hand!) different varieties claiming to be KoTN before they got it right. I chose to emphasize the pollen in this piece for that reason. The barn in the background was the first barn HVSC owned with they started, and the mountain range in the background is the Catskills. Prints can be purchased here.