April 20th, 2017

• It was so much fun participating in Yellowstone Art Museum's Auction Quick Draw this year.  It's really a quick finish because it is an encaustic. I finished the bottom half in my studio before the event.  The top half was done in 1 hour at the quick draw.  There was live music to start us off.  Something about that made me put myself in my studio and the "zone."  It was really fun!
  
• It sold at the first event of the live auction that night.  The title is the "First Day of June."  I was set up in my garden to "grab" flew from their nest and landed in front of me!  It was thrilling.  I snapped a photo of my 8 poppies which became my subject for the encaustic.  I'm a plein air painter but can't really set up with wax and heat in the garden, so I took a photo that became my subject for this painting.  I paint from life, not photos, but since these were grown  by me, I figure it qualifies. This painting was a little hard to give up; that's usually my test to myself that it's good enough to sell.