Masset artist Maryanne Wettlaufer stepped out to her backyard studio one grey morning last week when she saw the gifted sunflowers on the deck were starting to fade.

Dan Peebles, co-owner of The Ground coffee shop in Masset, starts several varieties of sunflower in empty coffee-bean bags that line the shelves of his greenhouse. Some of this year’s beauties grew so tall he had to tie them back on roof gutters.

Some of the originals grown by Dan Peebles. (Submitted)

Wettlaufer’s paintings of Haida Gwaii landscapes hang on the walls of galleries and houses all over, usually on canvas.

But right across from her doorstep, Wettlaufer realized she already had a ready-made surface to capture the sunflowers’ cheer before winter — the bright white face of her oil tank.

“Every single morning, they’re here,” she said.

“The first day after I did the colours, I looked out the window and it was grey and dark. But they’re so cheerful.”