Foxgloves

This little pic was done around October 2008. It's still one of my favourites and even though I've tried to recreate it a couple of times, I can't do it. It's one of the frustrating things about trying to learn something new - things happen by accident and you've no idea how you did it.

For instance, I can't for the life of me do foxgloves anymore! I suppose these must have been beginners luck and I need a lot more practice before I can paint them on demand. The same goes for the mountains in the distance. I like the way these tail off into a headland stretching out into the water, and they do seem to be just the right shape and size for the perspective of the picture.

The foreground is muted, with the iron marks not being as obvious as in many encaustic paintings, and this, again, was achieved through happy accident. I laid the finished painting on top of the iron so that the wax melted.